YuGiOh! GX: A New Adventure
by VGA-Condor2011
Summary: Zachary Curtis is just a normal student with a dream of making it big at Duel Academy, one of the most well-known dueling schools in the world. Things aren't what they seem when South Honors Academy, a much more prestigious school, recognizes his talents. *Discontinued*
1. The Trial Exams

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series or any cards used in this story, however I do own all original characters and original cards.**

**Author's Note: This is my very first fanfic, so reviews are highly appreciated but flames are intolerable. This story takes place 15 years after Jaden's adventure at Duel Academy. It resembles the original series plot, so enjoy and without further ado, I present the first chapter of A New Adventure!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Trial Exams<strong>

The light from the early morning sun broke through Zachary's window. He woke up knowing that this morning was different than the others. Why? Because this was the day he takes his trial exams for the legendary Duel Academy. Once that thought shot through his head, he was up out of bed and getting ready.

"Zachary!" shouted his mother from the bottom of the stairs, "I hope you didn't forget about your exams!"

"I didn't ma, but thanks for the reminder!" he replied while putting on some fresh clothes, and in less than 20 minutes, he was out the door on his way to the Testing Center.

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><p>Zachary Curtis was an average teenager. Fifteen years old with dark blue eyes and black hair that was naturally spiked forward. He had a calm and collected personality, but the excitement of taking the trial exams distracted him from looking out for other pedestrians.<p>

"Hey, watch where your going!" shouted probably the fifth man he had run into.

"Sorry 'bout that," apologized Zachary, but when he looked back to his direction, a tall building with a massive string of kids coming out of the door. Just the line to get in was longer than the body of Slifer the Sky Dragon. Zachary had quickly got into what he believed was the shortest line, but he soon discovered that the line he had just entered stretched around the building. After a wait for what seemed like a lifetime, he got to the receptionist.

"Name please," asked the receptionist.

"Zachary Curtis," he replied with a confident look on his face, but it soon turned to an expression of worry when the receptionist took a decent amount of time finding his name.

"Oh, here it is, I'm so sorry for the hesitance," laughed the receptionist, "So: Zachary Curtis, age: 15, born July 27, 2008. Is this information correct?"

"Yes," he replied with a sigh of relief.

"Okay then, here's your test booklet and answer sheet, and just sit in any available seat," said the receptionist as she handed the test materials.

"Thank you very much," and with that, Zachary took the first empty seat he saw and began the test that decides his position in Duel Academy.

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><p>After a grueling four hours of nothing but questions on duel monsters, Zachary walked home with some fellow test-takers.<p>

"Damn, I thought it would never end," said one of the test-takers commenting on the length of the test.

"I know, for a moment there, I thought I was going to swear off duel monsters forever," Zachary added, "Well hopefully I'll see you guys at Duel Academy."

"Same here", agreed the test-takers as they walked off in their own directions.

After enjoying dinner and telling his parents about the test, he retired to bed and had late night fantasies about himself enjoying the luxuries of the highly talked about Obelisk Blue dorm. Just as he was about to be nominated as the greatest duelist ever to attend the Academy, the light of the morning sun ended the sweet dream. With a disappointed sigh, he pulled himself out of bed and opened his laptop. While checking his email, he noticed one labeled: **Trial Exam Results: Urgent Message to Zachary Curtis. **As soon as he saw his name and urgent in the same sentence, Zachary quickly moved his mouse over to the message and clicked on it. The instant it opened up, he read what it said:

**Dear Zachary Curtis,**

**When we graded your exam, something very interesting caught our attention. It seems that you have scored far higher than any other student in your testing block. With these results, Duel Academy is considered to be too simple, and we have recommended you to a school of a higher degree, in which you have been accepted into. South Honors Duel Academy is far more rigorous, but your skills will greatly improve. All you have to do is attend the initiation duel tomorrow at 3:00 pm. We are deeply sorry if you had high hopes of coming to Duel Academy, but if South Honors does not recognize your skills, we will happily accept you. The ship to South Honors Academy will board and depart on Saturday, September 27. We hope you enjoy your years at South Honors Academy and have a great day.**

**Sincerely, Chancellor Crowler and the Duel Academy Staff.**

Zachary sat at in his chair, mouth hanging open as he digested the news he had just been fed. When he came back to Earth, he was overjoyed that a better school had accepted him, albeit that he was a bit saddened by the fact that he wasn't able to attend his favorite dueling school, but he decided to suck it up and go with the flow he called his life. He checked his calendar and saw that Saturday the 27 was only two days away, so he picked up his deck and began training for his initiation duels tomorrow.

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><p>"Oh, I'm so happy that my boy is taking an initiation duel for one of the best schools in the world!" exclaimed Mrs. Curtis while suffocating him in a death hug.<p>

"I know mom, I'm excited too, but can you let me go? I won't live long enough to take the duel with your grip," Zachary choked out with the little breath had left.

"Haha, let him go Margaret, the boy has to concentrate, those duelists he's about to face are far tougher than what he would've at Duel Academy," warned Mr. Curtis.

"I know, honey, I'm just so happy he's attending the school that has been the passion for my family for years," Margaret noted.

"Really, Mom? So Grandma and Grandpa had wanted to go to South Honors?" asked Zachary, curious about what he had just heard.

"Of course, your mother almost made it in if I hadn't have messed up on the last few turns," Margaret added.

_'Huh, so mom could've been a South Honors alumni. That's pretty cool, but it's even cooler that I'm the first one of my family to make it in,'_ thought Zachary as he looked at the clock which read 2:45.

"Oh shit!" cried Zachary, "I'm gonna be late!"

"Hey watch your mouth young man, do you want a ride?" offered Mr. Curtis.

"Nah, it's okay Dad, I'll just skate over there," said Zachary as he hurried out the door and rode his way towards the Duel Center.

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><p>"Ah, look at all these fresh new faces," said one of the examiners.<p>

"Yep, it looks like there's going to be a good amount of freshmen this year," added another, noticing the amount of talent being shown during the present Duels.

"Looks can be quite deceiving, gentlemen," countered an examiner who also had front spiked hair, dressed in a long, white overcoat and spoke in a slight accent.

"C'mon Professor Romero, there is clearly a great deal of skill down there," replied one of the examiners, trying to give faith to the students.

Professor Romero shot a glare at the examiner, "You have to remember that the initiation duelists are supposed to go easy on these new ones, to at least give them a sporting chance in getting into the school. But anyway, a duel has been won, so call up the next opponent."

The examiner took a look at his clipboard, "Huh, looks like this is is the last duel of the day." The examiner turned on the intercom," ZACHARY CURTIS, PLEASE REPORT TO DUEL STATION 1!"

Zachary immediately woke up due to the sudden and loud call to his name. He proceeded to the station assigned, which he quickly noted that it was the middle arena.

'_Great, looks like everyone's gonna be watchin' this one,'_ thought Zachary. Brushing that off, he looked towards the examiners and asked,"So, who's up?" Zachary looked over to the crowd to see a student with a white jacket uniform and back-spiked, jet-black hair glaring at him who looked about his age. Zachary swallowed his words instantly.

'_This cocky little noob, I'll knock him right outta the park,'_ thought the overseer.

"Your opponent will be... Riley Bogard!" announced the examiner. With that said, the same student that was glaring at Zachary stood up and entered the arena.

Professor Romero saw Riley's evil grin and shouted at him,"Hey, Riley! Don't be too hard on him!"

"I'll make this quick Professor," replied Riley, "He won't be going to South Honors anytime soon."

Zachary and Riley took their respective places on the arena, activated their duel discs and drew their cards.

"Ready?" spat Riley.

"Let's duel!" shouted Zachary.

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><p>Zachary: 4000 Riley: 4000

Riley drew his first card," I'll start. I put one card face-down in defense mode, and end my turn."

Riley had a wicked grin thrown across his face when the large holographic card appeared on his side of the field.

"Okay, draw! I summon Ancient Gear Soldier (ATK:1300/DEF: 1300) in attack mode, and equip it with Ancient Gear Tank, which boosts its attack by 600 (ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1300). And with that, I attack your face-down."

With that command, the mechanical soldier aimed its arm cannon and fired a barrage of bullets that struck the face-down with great power. The face-down revealed itself to be a turtle with a pyramid-like shell, before it shattered and was sent to the graveyard.

"HA! I knew you would be so stupid as to attack, because you just destroyed my Pyramid Turtle (ATK: 1200/ DEF: 1400), so I get to special summon one Zombie-type monster with a defense of 2000 or less from my deck to the field!" Riley then took his deck and found the one card he was looking for,"I summon Vampire Lord (ATK: 2000/ DEF:1500) in attack mode!" When he put the card on his disk, a regal looking vampire male rose from the ground. Zachary was taken aback by his recent move, but refocused.

"I set one face-down, and end," concluded Zachary.

"My turn, so I remove my Vampire Lord from play and summon Vampire Genesis (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2100)!", when Riley said that, his Vampire Lord burned in a huge pillar of flames and what emerged was an even more fearsome monster appeared in its place. The spectating audience was filled with oohs and ahhs.

"Since that was a special summon, I summon Regenerating Mummy (ATK: 1800/ DEF: 1500) in attack mode! With these kick-ass monsters in play, I attack your soldier with Genesis, and my mummy will attack your life points!"

As soon as he said that, Vampire Genesis took aim at his soldier and attacked. Zachary's soldier stood no chance against the beast. But once his soldier was gone, he felt a sharp pain go through his body when he was attacked by his Regenerating Mummy.

Zachary: 1100/ Riley: 4000

Riley laughed as he watched Zachary get up and continue the duel.

"Just give up already! You only have 1100 life points left and no monsters on the field. I can't believe _**you **_wererecommended for South Honors Academy," Riley insulted Zachary and put an evil emphasis on his name.

"I never back down from anything, no matter the situation," with that said, Zachary's normal, calm, personality changed into a more serious and tensed up one.

_'What the hell's up with this kid? For one moment he was like any other duelist, now he's all serious and tense.' _"What the hell are you up to?" demanded Riley.

"Winning this duel," as Zachary drew his next card, he smiled and threw it onto his duel disc.

"I summon Ancient Gear (ATK: 100/ DEF: 800) in attack mode!" Zachary called out as a small, rusty, little robot composed merely of gears emerged from the ground.

"Are you serious?" mocked Riley,"That was your super-awesome pl-" Zachary cut him off. "I wasn't done yet, I activate Machine Duplication, which allows me to special summon up to two more Machine-type monsters with the same name as one on my field with 500 or less attack points. So that means my Ancient Gear is going to get a friend."

One more Ancient Gear emerged from the ground and positioned itself next to its friend.

"So what, they're still weak!" Riley exclaimed, as he prepared to draw.

"I'm still not done, so if you would be so kind as to remove your hand from that card on your deck," Zachary ordered as Riley did what he was told.

"I activate my face-down trap card Ultimate Offering! This little trap allows me to summon one more monster at the cost of 500 life points," Zachary explained.

Zachary: 600/ Riley: 4000

"Now, I tribute two of my Ancient Gears to bring out, Ancient Gear Golem (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 3000)!" Zachary summoned the massive beast from his hand. Riley stepped back a few steps in fear of the newly summoned monster, but he quickly regained his composure when he noticed that the attack points of his Vampire Genesis and Zachary's Golem were equal.

"You wasted all that time to summon something that won't even destroy me?" Riley laughed,"Wow! You're more pathetic than I thought!"

"That's why I have this," Zachary interrupted as he revealed the card last card in his hand, "I activate Limiter Removal!"

Many spectators gasped when they heard what he had activated. Riley took note of this and looked around the arena, "What?" Riley then looked over to Zachary and barked, "What the hell does that card do?"

Zachary smiled and explained, "Limiter Removal is a card that doubles the attack of all Machine-type monsters on my side of the field, and destroys them at the end of the turn."

Riley's mouth dropped open as he predicted for what was coming next.

"So Ancient Gear Golem (ATK: 6000/ DEF: 3000) attack his Regenerating Mummy! Mechanized Melee!" commanded Zachary as the Golem slammed its massive fist into the mummy and dropping Riley's life points to zero.

Zachary: 600/ Riley: 0

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><p>The audience cheered as Riley fell to his knees in defeat. '<em>I can't believe some noob finished me in one turn!'<em>

_'Wow, this kid certainly has a bright future at South Honors,'_ thought Professor Romero as he got up and left the building.

Zachary was distracted by the cheers and celebratory handshakes given by the spectators and examiners, but the one thing that shot through his mind, is that a new adventure will be awaiting him tomorrow.

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><p><strong>And that's a wrap on Chapter 1!<strong>

**Thanks so much for reading and reviews are appreciated!**

**Author's Note: I hope you understood that Zachary was born in 2008, which is the year the last episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX aired. That means this story takes place in 2023. I just wanted to tie in the original series with this fic, to give it some sort of chronology.**

**I hope to get Chapter 2 up and running soon!**


	2. Welcome to South Honors Duel Academy

**Hey, this is VGA-Condor with another chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: A New Adventure.**

**I forgot to mention that OCs are being accepted and the best ones will be included into the story. Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the next chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Welcome to South Honors Duel Academy<strong>

As Zachary was running home after the initiation duel, the only thought rushing through his head was how he pushed himself out of the corner the student, Riley Bogard, had put him into. When he arrived home, his mother easily took notice of her son's happy mood and instantly put two and two together.

"Zachary, can you help cook dinner?" Margaret asked when he walked through the door with a goofy smile stretched across his face.

"Sure, mom," replied Zachary, his mind still in la-la land. Margaret laughed and proceeded to ask how the initiation duels went.

"So, how did it go?" asked Margaret, preparing her ears for the long story that was about to be told.

"IT WAS AMAZING!" cried out Zachary putting the potato he was currently skinning down and turning to face his mother, "I pulled through the toughest situation I've ever been in, because there I was, facing a Regenerating Mummy AND a Vampire Genesis with only and Ancient Gear Soldier on the field!"

"Oh my," Margaret responded, "How did you get out of that?"

Zachary happily straddled on with his story, explaining his combo that resulted in a one-turn-kill.

"You were very lucky that all those cards were provided for you, or you would have never have pulled through like that," Margaret commented, impressed on how her son utilized even his weakest cards to produce an even stronger monster an achieve victory. It was after Zachary and Margaret had just finished making dinner when his father entered through the door.

"Haha, what's with all the commotion, I swear I had heard you from the office," joked Mr. Curtis.

"Oh, Alan, our son is going to South Honors Duel Academy," informed Margaret. Alan stood where he was standing, his face pointed towards his son with shock, but it soon turned into an expression of pure joy when he realized what great news he had been told.

"So... you made it, huh?" assured Alan, "Ah! That's my boy, I knew you can do it, you've always had your mother's dueling skills in you!"

"Thanks dad, but remember, I leave tomorrow at 12:00 sharp," reminded Zachary.

"Well that means you got a hell of a lot of packing you gotta do," Alan said folding his arms, "So after dinner, it's up to you to get everything you need and get a good night's rest, because tomorrow you start your newest adventure!"

After enjoying dinner with his family, he took whatever he had in his closet and threw it into Despite what his father said, Zachary couldn't sleep. All he could do was think about how excited he was about going to one of the best duel monsters school in the world, but with all these thoughts shooting through his mind, he eventually fell asleep, dreaming about the awesome new opportunities that are going to be given to him by the time he sets foot on that island.

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><p>"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" cursed Zachary as he was rushing through the security checks. "I can't believe this is happening!" After pushing through security, he looked at his ticket, and the dock he was supposed to be at was on the other side of the bay. He looked at his watch, and his eyes widened when he saw 11:55 on it. Making like a duel runner, Zachary sped his way through the bay, his luggage jumping around sporadically but he kept a firm grip on them with his tensed up hands. When he thought the inevitable was going to happen, he saw the ship only about 100 feet away through the foggy weather. He ran faster than he had ever before, reaching the boarding bridge just in time at 11:59.<p>

"You just barely made it," the ticket collector said as he took Zachary's ticket and closed the door behind him. "Here I'll take those to storage."

"Thanks," Zachary choked out as he handed his luggage to the sailor and pulled out his phone to text his parents that he was safely on the ship. Literally at 12:00, the ship started up and began the three-and-a-half-hour voyage from New Domino City to South Honors Duel Academy. About a half-hour into the cruise, Zachary decided it was about time to grab a bite to eat. After purchasing a cheeseburger and a soda, he joined some other freshmen in the dining hall. While conversing with the other new students, in the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar white coat and gelled-back hair. Turning to see who this familiar student was, Zachary froze when he saw Riley Bogard across the dining hall. Riley noticed Zachary as well and shot him an evil glare, his eyes filled with fury and vengeance because of his humiliating defeat the day before. Zachary excused himself and went out to the bow of the ship, basking in the now sunny weather.

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><p>"Enjoying the ocean scenery?" a new voice he had never heard before asked him from behind.<p>

"Yeah, ever since I moved from the United States to New Domino City, I hardly get to see this much of the ocean." replied Zachary who never took his eye off the ocean to see the person that was talking to him.

"Mind if I join you?" asked the mystery person.

"Not at all," said Zachary, accepting the offer.

"You may not know me, but I am Isaac Romero, a professor at South Honors Duel Academy," Romero introduced himself as he held out a hand to Zachary.

"I'm Zachary Curtis, a new student to South Honors," replied Zachary shaking Romero's hand.

"Oh, I know who you are. It's not everyday when you see a student defeat Riley Bogard," laughed Romero. "Even when he's an initiation opponent, he doesn't go easy, even if you are supposed to go easy."

"So he's good, _**really **_good," Zachary concluded.

"Yes, he comes from a long line of excellent duelists," Romero continued. "But your performance against him was remarkable, I've never seen anybody pull through pickle like that, I mean, most duelists will panic when faced with Vampire Genesis."

"Don't get me wrong, I was a bit panicked myself. It's been awhile since I've seen a monster that powerful," Zachary admitted. Romero laughed, slightly humored to thte fact.

"It's always good to see someone that's honest with himself," Romero leaned up against the railing, both his and Zachary's eyes were glued to the beautiful blue horizon.

After some lengthy conversations Zachary had with Romero, ranging from duelists to monsters and even to random personal subjects. The rest of the cruise quickly went by and when the ship laid anchor at South Honors Academy, Zachary and Romero went their separate ways. Zachary along with many other students were in awe at the hi-tech and modern building that was South Honors. Zachary quickly took note that South Honors was strikingly in resemblance to Duel Academy, the only major difference was that the colors of the school were grey, black, and white akin to Duel Academy's red, yellow, and blue. Zachary was informed by Romero that all new students are to attend the welcoming speech in the main auditorium at 5:00, giving Zachary an hour-and-a-half to explore the school.

When 5:00 came around, Zachary found a seat in the auditorium and prepared for the welcoming speech. Professor Romero walked up to the podium and began the speech.

_'Jeez, these guys are really anal when it comes to time' _thought Zachary when he noticed that so far everything that had to do with time and the school were always on the dot. Tearing away from this random thought, he turned his attention to the speech that was being given.

"It is my pleasure along with the staff at South Honors Duel Academy to welcome you all to our beautiful school. Here you will learn how to be top duelists through the rigorous course given here. In exchange for enduring these courses, we will ensure that your time here will be like your home-away-from-home with care and comfort. Please enjoy your first day at South Honors Duel Academy, and look forward to a hopefully bright an exciting four years!" The audience cheered as Romero finished and dismissed them to receive their schedules, uniforms and dorm room numbers. When Zachary got in line to receive his schedule, uniform and dorm key; the person handing them out informed the new students that this school follows a ranking and category system and that all freshmen start off at the bottom rank and must work their way to the top, despite their current skills as duelists. Zachary looked at the rank scale that was charted next to the uniform tables and it read:

**South Honors Duel Academy Ranking Scale**

**Rank 3: Grey Cloud - Lowest Tier, all freshmen begin at this rank**

**Rank 2: Black Cloud - Middle Tier, intermediate duelists are present in this rank**

**Rank 1: White Cloud - Highest Tier, the most advanced students are present in this rank**

Zachary quickly understood the scale and walked up to receive his dorm key and Grey Cloud uniform, which was nothing but a box full of grey jackets, black shirts, grey pants, black socks, and three pairs of grey shoes. Zachary took his items and proceeded to his dorm, labeled 32-G, the "G" clearly standing for a Grey Cloud dorm. Zachary placed his box of uniforms on the floor next to his dorm as the dorms are currently being cleaned and prepped, so he proceeded to the dining hall for dinner. In the dining hall was where the first eventful thing at his school happened to him.

"HEY, CURTIS!" shouted a voice from across the hall. Zachary put his fork down to see who called him out on his first day at the Academy. When he looked to the door of the the dining hall, he saw none other than Riley Bogard, so far his first rival at South Honors.

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO ANOTHER DUEL, AFTER DINNER IN THE ARENA!" demanded Riley. "BE THERE!"

Zachary had no choice but to accept, as it is school policy that you cannot turn down a challenge. Almost all of the students were staring at Zachary after Riley had left, but he had no other choice, Riley must be defeated again.

As Zachary was walking towards the arena, all he heard was how a White Cloud like Riley would challenge a freshie, Grey Cloud like him. Only he and Riley know that answer as Zachary proceeded to his side of the arena. The arena was full of spectators, including Professor Romero and The Dean himself, curious on how interesting this first day was.

"Took you long enough," Riley spat out.

"Sorry, I was prepping my deck," Zachary responded, pulling out his deck and inserting it into his duel disc.

"Ha! You still have a traditional duel disc? Mine's custom made for moi," bragged Riley as he inserted his deck into the duel disc that had bore a resemblance to a demonic skull with a bony wing as the blade to hold the cards.

"This is all I need to kick your ass with," he countered activating his duel disc. The crowed oohed to the remark Zachary had made to Riley. With a growl, Riley started the duel.

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><p>Zachary: 4000 Riley: 4000

"I'm not holding back this time!" Riley shouted as he drew his first card. "I activate Call of the Mummy, which allows me to special summon one Zombie-type monster when there is no other monsters on my side of the field, so with that, I gladly summon Despair from the Dark (ATK: 2800/ DEF:3000)! I also summon Regenerating Mummy in attack mode! I end."

Zachary was hesitant to make his next move as Riley had already had summon a Level 8 monster along with a powerful Level 4.

"I put one card face-down in defense mode and set two cards face-down, I end my turn."

"This'll be a cake-walk," hissed Riley as he drew his next card. "I summon another Regenerating Mummy in attack mode and I attack your face-down!"

When the mummy attacked the face down card revealed itself to be a Pyramid Turtle, before shattering and going to the Graveyard.

"What the hell? Why are you using a Zombie deck?" yelled Riley after noticing that he just destroyed one of his trademark strategy cards.

"I might as well utilize more than one deck, I mean, I do use both when I duel," answered Zachary as he continued on with Pyramid Turtle's effect. "I special summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon (ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1200) in attack mode!"

"That was stupid, Despair, send that bastard to the graveyard!" Riley commanded, but as his Despair was attacking, Zachary countered.

"I activate Sakuretsu Armor, which destroys any attacking monster!" The Despair struck the armor and was destroyed faster than it was summoned.

Riley clenched his teeth and ended his turn.

"I draw! I summon Zombie Master (ATK: 1800/ DEF: 0) in attack mode! Paladin send one of his mummies to the graveyard!" ordered Zachary as his Paladin impaled one of the mummies and destroyed it.

Zachary: 4000/ Riley: 3900

"I also activate my Paladin's effect, which is when one of your monsters is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one Level 4 or lower monster your Graveyard to my side of the field," explained Zachary as Riley's own Regenerating Mummy emerged on Zachary's side of the field.

"I end my turn."

"So be it, i can take destroy everyone of those cards, by sacrificing my Mummy, I summon Vampire Lord to the field!" cried Riley. Zachary easily remembered this strategy due to the first duel he had with him, so he prepared for his powerhouse to be summoned.

"I'll attack your pathetic Paladin and end my turn," Riley finished as the shards of what used to be Zachary's Paladin littered across the field.

Zachary: 3900/ Riley: 3900

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention," Riley suddenly blurted out, "Whenever my Vampire Lord inflicts battle damage, I can choose either a Monster, Spell, or Trap card and you choose one from your deck and send it to the Graveyard, so if you'll be so kind as to trash a Monster card."

Zachary took his deck and searched for a card that can be utilized into a strategic move.

"I'll discard my Patrician of Darkness (ATK: 2000/ DEF: 1400)," Zachary then moved his card to the Graveyard.

"My turn, I summon another Zombie Master and I'll end my turn," Zachary finished his turn quickly.

"Draw. Heh, looks like your time's up, because I remove my Vampi-" Riley was cut off when a massive iron wall surrounded the field.

"Not so fast, I activate Imperial Iron Wall, which prevents cards from being removed from play," Zachary countered his Genesis strategy, but when he took another look at Riley, he saw something unexpected.

"Ha. Ha-ha. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Riley laughed, but Zachary couldn't figure out why, until he saw the card in his hand.

"That was good and all, but Mystical Space typhoon will destroy your wall with no problem." As soon as the wall had risen, it came tumbling down, which allowed Riley to summon Vampire Genesis, the thing Zachary tried to prevent.

"Oh, but I'm still not done, I activate Book of Life! Come back from the dead, Despair, and to be fun, I'll remove your Paladin from play! Now, attack my monsters, destroy those so-called Zombie Masters!" Riley ordered as both cards annihilated Zachary's only line of defense.

Zachary: 1700/ Riley: 3900

"Poor cards, It saddens me that this is how easy it was to defeat you this time, but at least my reputation will be returned, I end," Riley finished.

Zachary found it very difficult to find a way out of this, but as he drew his next card, a strategy was illuminated into his mind.

"I activate my own Book of Life and bring back my Patrician of Darkness and remove your mummy, but I sacrifice Patrician to summon my ultimate card, Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon (ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000)!" Zachary shouted as a pillar of blue fire revealed the most fearsome creature in his deck.

"What a waste!" Riley interrupted, "He's still weaker than _**both**_ of my cards!"

"Not when I equip him with this," Riley flipped the card in his hand, "Axe of Despair will bring up my monster's attack by 1000! So Red-Eyes, burn his Despair! Inferno Fire Blast!" The dragon shot a ball of blue fire at his Despair and burned it to a crisp

Zachary: 1700/ Riley: 3300

But it wasn't how Zachary destroyed his card, what really took Riley by surprise was when his Despair was destroyed, instead of it being set to the Graveyard, it appeared on Zachary's side of the field.

"Why is my Despair with you?" Riley demanded an answer.

"It's my dragon's effect, each time it destroys a Zombie-type monster, that monster is special summoned to my side of the field," Zachary explained as he shifted Despair into defense position.

"I set one card and end my turn."

"My turn, I summon Master Kyonshee (ATK: 1750/ DEF: 1000)," but when Riley summoned him, Zachary activated his face down.

"I activate Bottomless Trap Hole, which removes from play any summoned monster card with an attack of over 1500," explained Zachary as Master Kyonshee fell into the hole beneath him. Riley slumped down to the floor, knowing the outcome of this duel.

"I end," Riley whispered out.

Zachary flipped his Despair into attack position and ordered his monsters to attack, destroying his Genesis with Red-Eyes and his life points with Despair.

Zachary: 1700/ Riley: 100

"I activate Spell Shattering Arrow," Zachary said with a monotone voice as he destroyed Riley's Call of the Mummy and 500 life points of damage is dealt to end the duel.

Zachary: 1700/ Riley: 0

* * *

><p>The crowd roared as the last of Riley's life points dropped to zero, showering Zachary with their approval as a great duelist by performing such a massive turnaround. One spectator in particular that donned a white jacket with long flowing hair of navy blue was very impressed by Zachary's skill.<p>

"His future here will be bright," the overseer said aloud before she left the arena.

"This one is full of surprises, he will be even better if he studies hard and succeeds," the Dean commented to Romero, obviously impressed by the skill of his newest student. He soon rose up to give a speech about the duel.

"Excellent show boys! I am glad to call you my students, so Zachary, even though you performed valiantly, you must remain a Grey Cloud as this was not a promotional duel, I am sorry."

"It's okay Dean, I understand school regulations," Zachary accepted his position, besides it was his first day, he didn't want to be at the top as a Freshie, he would be hated by the school.

"Good, but as for you Riley, school regulations _**do **_decide your position, because you lost a duel that _**you**_ declared, you are demoted to the rank of your opponent. I am sorry Riley, but you must turn in your White Cloud uniform and in turn receive a Grey Cloud uniform. I hope the rest of you enjoy your stay here at South Honors." With that final remark, he along with the rest of the audience dismissed themselves, leaving only Riley and Zachary in the arena. Riley got up, and without a word left the arena. Zachary began to walk to his dorm, feeling bad about what had happened to Riley, and how he had already made an enemy before he made a friend.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was long and difficult to write. I promise that all later duels will not be like this one, I rushed through it and that will not happen again.<strong>

**I hope to update with Chapter 3 soon!**


	3. South Honors Surprises

**Here's Chapter 3 of A New Adventure, from here on out, duels will not be rushed, and more characters will be introduced.**

**Author's Note: Original Cards will be featured at the end of each chapter from now on, just so you guy won't get confused about which cards are real or not.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: South Honors Surprises<strong>

After the duel with Riley, Zachary proceeded back to his dorm. When he got to his dorm, he noticed that all the items that were next to his door were gone. Panicked at the thought that he had been robbed, Zachary ran off to tell The Dean. Before he was able to leave the hallway, Zachary collided into an unfamiliar face, knocking him and the person straight to the floor.

"What the fu-? WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" screamed the girl he had just knocked down. The girl was beautiful, Zachary noted. She had long, navy blue hair that stretched down to the middle of her back and stunning sapphire eyes.

"I am so sorry!" Zachary apologized as he picked himself up and offered out a hand to assist her, " but I just got robbed and I need to tell The Dean so I-" The girl cut him off after she realized what he thought was robbery was merely just the school's courtesy.

"You weren't robbed," she said while taking his hand and pulling herself up.

"Wha-? What do you mean?" asked Zachary obviously confused after the girl's comment.

"You're new here right? Well if you are, it's the school's common courtesy to put all of the students belongings into the dormitory after it has been cleaned," the girl explained.

"They start doing that right after you get off the ship." Zachary walked back to his dorm and opened his door, discovering that it was unlocked. Entering his new dorm, he was shocked to see how large it was.

_'This is a Grey Cloud dorm? It's almost like a full apartment.' _thought Zachary as he explored through his new home. He checked the drawers in the open bedroom just to see that all of his clothes and uniforms were neatly placed into it. Looking over his shoulder, he was surprised to see that there was another bedroom. _'Two bedrooms? Huh, it seems like I must be getting a roommate.'_ After that thought a light went off in his head, remembering the girl he had just ran into, literally. When he turned back to see his possible roommate, he noticed immediately the color of her jacket.

"Oh, you're a White Cloud?" asked Zachary stupidly, but the girl only laughed while she was dusting herself off.

"Yeah, you just noticed?"

"No, I was just reassuring myself, for all I know you could be borrowing that jacket," Zachary lied.

"Well, yes I am a White Cloud. Sorry, but we haven't been properly introduced," the girl held out a hand.

"My name is Cascade Novius, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Zachary Curtis," he responded and shook her hand.

"Wait, I know you, you're the one that defeated Riley Bogard, right?" Cascade asked excitedly. Zachary became very nervous as to how he should answer that question. Thousands of thoughts shot through his head during the moment.

_'What if I am Zachary Curtis? What will she do to me? Rape? Murder? Make me the laughing stock of the school?'_

It was until Cascade was able to bring him back to Earth when she got her answer.

"Yes, I am the one," Zachary answered nervously.

"That was an excellent turnaround! It's been so long that I've seen a duel with that much of a comeback!" Cascade exclaimed and looked at her watch to see that it was 9:30.

"Yikes, it's getting late. Remember there's class in the morning, so get to bed," she reminded before she sped off towards her dorm. As Zachary went to close his door, he heard Cascade from the distance.

"I hope we can have a class together!" Zachary blushed furiously after that comment before slamming the door shut and collapsing onto the couch.

* * *

><p>It was about ten minutes later when he heard a knock at his door. Wondering who is looking for him this late at night, Zachary opened the door to see who the knocker was.<p>

"Good evening, Zachary," Professor Romero greeted.

"Hey, what's u-," after realizing who it was, Zachary immediately woke up.

"Oh! Professor Romero!" Zachary exclaimed as he bowed down to greet the Professor.

"Ha-ha, you don't have to be so professional Zachary, I am your friend as well as your professor, so I hope to be treated as both," Romero assured.

"Might I ask, but why are you here at 9:45 at night?" asked Zachary rubbing his eyes open due to the 10-minute power-nap.

"I'm here to introduce your roommate, he's gone through a lot so far, much like you," Romero said with a stupid grin slapped across his face.

"Riley, can you come here please, I believe you have some unpacking to do."

Zachary shot wide awake when he heard that name.

"Pr-Pr-Professor? I thought you knew we had a rivalry?" asked Zachary angrily.

"I know, but enemies can make the best of friends," Romero commented.

"My ass," Riley hissed as he walked up to the dorm.

"Make yourselves at home boys, for we have a big day tomorrow!" Romero finished before he sped out from the hallway, as if knowing disaster will strike.

"Uh, come on in I guess," Zachary moved out of Riley's way to allow him into the dorm. As soon as he finished pulling his luggage into the dorm, he pinned Zachary against the wall and gave him a death glare.

"If you so much whisper to me, I'll kill you!" threatened Riley before dragging his items into his room and slamming the door shut.

_'This is going to be one hell of a school year...' _Zachary thought before he closed his door to get some rest for the first official day of classes.

* * *

><p>Zachary took a look at his schedule and read what classes he had for the year:<p>

**Schedule for Zachary Curtis**

**1. Professor Isaac Romero: Card Dynamics.**

**2. Professor Laura Stevenson: Duel Monsters' History**

**3. Professor Robert von Williams: Strategy and Countering**

**4. Lunch Break**

**5. Duel Disc Customization**

**6. Duel Arena**

Unfortunately he and Riley had the first three classes together, so that means they would have to walk the same direction three times everyday for nine months. After enduring three classes sitting unbearably close to Riley due to their last names, Zachary enjoyed a good lunch break with Professor Romero. To his surprise he discovered that Cascade was waiting for him in the dining hall along with Romero.

"Hey Cascade, what are you doing here?" Zachary asked.

"I was already planning on a lunch with Professor Romero, so here I am," Cascade said happily. Zachary had no objections, sat down with his friends and started talking about his day.

"Wow, so for every class he sits about two or three seats away from you," Cascade commented after Zachary had told her about his day.

"But that's not the worst of it, the school put made Riley and Zachary roommates," Romero added, much to Zachary's dismay.

"Are you serious? So they have three classes sitting close to each other _**and **_live together?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds wrong," Zachary said, trying very hard to enjoy his chicken sandwich.

"Sorry, but hey at least we got Strategy and Countering together," Cascade said trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, that's true, but I can already tell that class is going to be hell," Zachary replied grabbing his hair to exaggerate the class's difficulty.

"What? Strategy and Countering?" Romero asked.

"That class is nothing! Mine is far more difficult due to the fact that we analyze single cards in a series," Romero continued with a smirk across his face, but when he saw Zachary glaring at him, Romero put a dumpling into his mouth.

"Well your next class will be fun, I mean Duel Disc Customization allows you to create your very own duel disc," Cascade explained, before looking at her watch and seeing that there is only a few minutes left of lunch. When the bell rang, the three went their separate ways to their classes. Zachary enjoyed Duel Disc Customization, and proceeded to the duel arena for the final part of his day.

* * *

><p>When he arrived at the duel arena, it was full of different ranked students. When he found Romero and Cascade, he learned that every student in the Academy must partake in at least one duel a day. It was until his name was called, he entered the arena, and was surprised to see Riley there too.<p>

_'Do I have to duel him again?' _Zachary thought, but the intercom announced a very unique dueling experience.

_**"Riley Bogard and Zachary Curtis, today you will participate in a tag-team duel against the Montgomery twins: Lisa and Clare!"**_

_'Is this school purposely putting us together like this, or is it all coincidence?'_ Riley thought due to the series of similar events that explained his conclusion. As he was thinking that, two identically beautiful girls with long-flowing mahogany-colored hair, donning white jackets entered the arena and prepared for a duel.

"I hope you're using your Zombie deck..." Riley said to Zachary. Zachary looked back at him and nodded.

"Good, now at least we'll have similar strategies to work with, because these two are the best tag-team in the school," Riley concluded.

"So are you two ready or what?" asked Lisa impatiently.

"Yeah, so let's duel!" Zachary and Riley said in unison.

Zachary - Riley: 8000/ Montgomery twins: 8000

"You can do this, Zach!" shouted Cascade from the stands. Zachary looked up to see both her and Romero giving them support.

"We'll go first," volunteered Clare.

"I summon Unity Soldier Green (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 1500) in attack mode!" she shouted. With that said, a knight clad in emerald armor rose from ground and unsheathed its sword.

"And I'll follow up with Unity Soldier Red, also in attack mode (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 1500)!" followed Lisa as a similar knight in ruby armor rose up and joined it's fellow soldier. After the summon, both monster's attack increased by 300 (ATK: 2000/ DEF: 1500).

"Wait, how are they at two-thousand attack?" Riley questioned.

Clare began to explain, "Whenever Unity Soldiers - Red and Green are on the field-"

"- they gain 300 attack points," Lisa finished.

Zachary and Riley were already in a corner, but both set one face-down monster in defense mode and one face-down card.

Clare drew her card.

"I put one card face-down in defense mode." Lisa followed up with the same move. The sisters then attacked the two face-downs, which were the classic Pyramid Turtles. Zachary chose Patrician of Darkness, while Riley chose Vampire Lord.

"We end," the sisters ended in frustration.

"My turn," Zachary drew.

"I activate Terraforming, which allows me to take a field card from my deck and add it to my hand." Zachary found the card he was looking for, added it to his hand, and activated it.

"I activate the Field Spell Card, Zombie World!" With that sentence, the arena turned into a gloomy wasteland chocked full of the dead.

Professor Romero was keeping his eye on Zachary, trying to predict his strategy and how he will share it with Riley.

"Professor, what exactly does Zombie World do?" Cascade asked.

"It changes all monster's types on the field and in the graveyard to Zombie-types, allowing Zachary _**and**_ Riley to gain a heavy advantage in this match," Romero explained as Zachary continued his turn.

"I tribute my Patrician of Darkness to summon Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!" Zachary said as his Zombie Dragon emerged onto the field.

"Wait, how did you summon that with one tribute? Isn't that a Level 7 monster?" asked Clare.

"You're right, but one of Red-Eyes Zombie's special abilities is that he can be summoned with only one sacrifice, if the sacrificed monster is a Zombie-type.

"Now, attack Unity Soldier Green!" continued Zachary as the dragon incinerated the helpless soldier.

Zachary - Riley: 8000/ Montgomery twins: 7600

Clare and Lisa weren't prepared for what happened next. At the same moment their Soldier was destroyed, it appeared on Riley and Zachary's side of the field.

"Hey!" cried Lisa.

"Why is our monster with you?" demanded Clare.

"Weren't you two idiots at the duel last night? Well if you were, you would know that any Zombie-type monster destroyed by Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon is special summoned on our side of the field," Riley explained, but Clare was still confused.

"That still doesn't explain why he's with you, our Soldier was a Warrior-type mon-," Riley interrupted.

"You don't know Zombie World's effect, do you? Zombie World changes all monsters on both the field _**and **_graveyard into Zombie-types, leaving you two helpless in a world of the dead. Anyway, it's my turn," Riley continued, "I tribute Vampire Lord to summon Ryu Kokki (ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000) in attack mode. Now, attack that Red Soldier!" In a large explosion, Unity Soldier Red ceased to battle.

Zachary - Riley: 8000/ Montgomery twins: 7200

"Your turn, Clare," Riley spat.

"Gladly," Clare drew, "Ha! You should've destroyed my face down when you had the chance, boys, because now the tables have turned! Tribute my face-down, goodbye Unity Soldier Blue (ATK: 1500/ DEF: 1700), and come forth, Unity Soldier Black (ATK: 2500/ DEF: 1200)! Now attack Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!"

During the soldier's attack, something caught both Zachary and Riley by surprise.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Clare began to laugh, "Whenever Unity Soldier Black attacks a monster of the same type as himself, his attack points are doubled (ATK: 5000/ DEF: 1200)!"

"Shit, Zach! Get ready to take a huge hit!" warned Riley, but Zachary's dragon stood no chance against it and was destroyed.

Zachary - Riley: 5400/ Montgomery twins: 7200

Cascade was shocked to Zachary's most powerful monster get destroyed, but Professor Romero saw through the destruction and noticed that Zachary still had a smile on his face.

"That was an awesome counter-attack! Using my own card to your advantage, but this duel isn't over yet. Your turn Lisa," Zachary commented. The duel continued with Lisa, who was uncomfortable to move after seeing Zachary so positive. Shaking it off, Lisa drew.

"I remove my face-down from play to special summon Unity Soldier White (ATK: 1200/ DEF: 2500) in defense mode, and because Unity Soldier White is the same type as another card on your side of the field, no Unity Soldiers can be destroyed by battle! With that, I end," Lisa concluded he turn and passed the torch onto Zachary.

"Draw!" Zachary looked to see his card, "Heh, I activate my face-down, Raigeki Break! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field, and I choose to destroy my Zombie World!"

"WHAT?" shouted Riley, "Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Because, now they won't be able to counter us anymore," Zachary explained.

"You are such-," Clare began.

"-an idiot," Lisa finished.

"Even if you destroyed your Zombie World, you still have one of our Unity Soldiers on your side of the field, rendering your strategy useless!" Clare pointed out.

"I never said I was done," Zachary continued.

"I knew that Unity Soldier Green was on our field, so that's why I tribute it to summon my own Ryu Kokki! Ryu Kokki, attack Unity Soldier White."

Lisa began to laugh when she heard Zachary's move.

"You are so foolish, don't you remember? My soldier has 2500 defense points, while your monster has _**2400**_!"

Zachary - Riley: 5300/ Montgomery twins: 7200

Riley followed up with a counter-argument, "Ryu Kokki's special effect is truly unique, because whenever he battles with a Spellcaster-type or a Warrior-type, that monster is destroyed at the end of the damage step. Say goodbye to your Unity Soldier." After the battle, the soldier was dragged into the graveyard.

"My turn," Riley began.

"I attack your Unity Soldier Black, with my Ryu Kokki!" Due to the fact that Unity Soldier Black was in attack mode, Ryu Kokki was destroyed, but soon after Unity Soldier Black was sent to the graveyard.

"Now, because I lack cards on my side of the field, I activate Call of the Mummy! Arise, Despair from the Dark! Zachary smiled when he saw his partner perform the same strategy on him, but was happy to see that it was on his side this time.

"But of course there is still much for me to do, because I use Book of Life to revive my Vampire Lord and remove your Unity Soldier Black!" Riley continued.

"Now, by removing my Vampire Lord from play, I summon Vampire Genesis!" The twins were panicked by the monsters their opponents had on their field, all of which have over two-thousand attack points.

"I-I-I draw," Clare hesitated, but she smiled when she saw the card she had just drawn.

"I summon Unity Soldier Orange (ATK: 500/ DEF: 500), and whenever there's another Unity Soldier in either player's graveyard, it can attack directly the same amount of times as the number of Unity Soldiers, so attack Orange!"

The soldier attacked a total of four times, giving 2000 points of damage to Zachary and Riley.

Zachary - Riley: 3300/ Montgomery twins: 7200

"Go ahead, Lisa", Clare ended.

"Gladly," Lisa drew her next card.

"I summon Unity Soldier Brown (ATK: 1000/ DEF: 1000), and what's interesting is that it can exchange owners with another Unity Soldier, so Orange is now on my side and I activate his effect once again!"

Zachary and Riley prepared themselves for another powerful hit, which reduced their life points even lower.

Zachary - Riley: 1300/ Montgomery twins: 7200

Riley looked over to Zachary.

"I hope you know how to get out of this, Zach." Zachary nodded and smiled, as he drew his next card.

"I activate Lightning Vortex!" shouted Zachary.

"By simply discarding one card, I can destroy all face-up monsters on your side of the field!"

All of the twin's monsters were instantly destroyed by the storm of lightning.

"Now, your life points are the only things standing in our way," Zachary and Riley finished the twins with a triple attack from Ryu Kokki, Despair from the Dark and Vampire Genesis.

Zachary - Riley: 1300/ Montgomery twins: 0

* * *

><p>Romero held a small celebration for the victorious tag-team in their dorm along with Cascade and the Montgomery twins, Clare and Lisa. Holding up his glass full of root beer, he toasted.<p>

"To Zachary and Riley, whose strategic moves paved victory!"

"Great job you guys!" Cascade added, clinking her glass with Romero's.

"Yeah, those strategies were truly-" Clare began.

"-SPECTACULAR!" Lisa finished with excitement in her voice. Riley smiled warmly, which was a very rare sight when he saw everyone celebrating over his victory along with Zachary's.

"I don't get why you two are here, I mean, we did beat you," Riley reminded the twins with a smirk slapped across his face.

"So, doesn't mean we can't celebrate you two, I mean you guys _**are **_Grey Clouds after all," Clare replied putting her hand on Riley's shoulder.

"Don't forget though, Riley was in fact a White Cloud," Zachary commented.

"Hey don't push it Freshie," Riley shot a fake glare at Zachary. The party continued for good five more hours of eating, watching movies and telling stories of their lives before Romero looked at his watch and it read 11:30.

"Agh, it's getting late. I forgot that there's class tomorrow, so I must be heading back." Romero helped clean up with the others before retiring himself to his home on the island. Soon after his departure, the twins and Cascade left to prepare for the next day.

"Wow, it's only my second day here and I'm already partying," laughed Zachary.

"Yeah, even though I've been here for a year, I haven't partied like that," Riley replied, but his cheery mood turned upside down when he thought about how he had treated Zachary these first few days.

'Hey, Riley, you okay?" Zachary asked, noticing his sudden change of mood.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for acting like such an asshole these past two days," Riley apologized.

"Just that my reputation as one of the best duelists here blinded me from seeing myself in the mirror, and when you defeated me, it was taken away. I lost control of myself." Riley confessed.

"Just don't let a good reputation change you, Zach, because all that comes after is the hate of all that you've put down." Zachary looked at Riley with sympathy, finally seeing how kind of a person he really is without his reputation smothering it.

"You know, Riley," Zachary began, "It's alright, and here, I want you to have this." Riley looked down in Zachary's hand to see a deck of cards.

"What's this?" Riley asked.

"It's my Zombie deck, I need to get better with my Ancient Gear Deck and you're the only person I know that is skilled with Zombies," Zachary explained.

"Zach, I can't take this from you," Riley denied the deck.

"No, it would just be a waste, and combining this with your current deck, you can make the ultimate Zombie deck," Zachary insisted on Riley taking the cards. Riley finally gave in and took the deck.

"Thanks, Zach, I'll put them to good use."

"I know you will," Zachary said as he held out a hand. Riley took it before he retired to his room. Zachary entered his room and shut the door behind him, he sat on his bed and thought about how these first days turned out. Even if he had hit some bumps in the road, he realized that the people that were present in his dorm earlier are his best friends so far. With that thought, he drifted off to sleep, looking foreward to a future here at South Honors Duel Academy.

* * *

><p><strong>Woot! This was a long chapter to write, but I think it came out well.<strong>

**Looks like Zachary and Riley made peace with each other, just the way I wanted.**

**All Unity Soldier cards are original cards. Basically the purpose of the Unity Soldiers is to share types with yourself, opponents, and other Unity Soldiers so that their effects can dominate the match.**

**Thanks for reading and Chapter 4 will be up soon!**


	4. Beach Showdown

**Well here's Chapter 4 of A New Adventure!**

**Recap: Zachary's experience in South Honors Academy has been unique. His rival has become his best friend along with Cascade, Professor Romero, and the Montgomery twins: Lisa and Clare. Now Zachary is enjoying his life and enduring his classes, but will all be well later down the road?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Beach Showdown<strong>

Zachary woke up to the day that he thought would never come: Saturday. After a stressful first week at South Honors Zachary was so happy that he could sleep in on his first weekend, but his dream ceased to come true when he felt a torrent of water hit his face. Zachary shot up to see who had the nerve to splash water on him during a weekend sleep-in.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Riley asked while holding an empty glass; dressed in swim trunks and black wife-beater while holding a Blue-Eyes White Dragon beach towel. Zachary wiped his face with his blanket before he remembered why Riley had woken him up, because he, Riley, Romero, Cascade and the twins were supposed to have a nice day at the beach.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Zachary as he got himself out of bed and got dressed. In less than five minutes, Zachary and Riley headed off to meet up with the rest.

* * *

><p>As they were going up the hill to the coast, they saw Cascade and the others. Cascade was dressed in a two-piece swimsuit, with her long hair tied into a ponytail, holding her towel and the picnic supplies. She was the first to notice them running towards them and informed the others of their arrival.<p>

"There they are, Professor." Professor Romero was in basic swimming trunks, but had a thermal covering his body. Riley was first to make it up the steep hill, so he panted out an apology for the both of them.

"We're sorry Professor, but my roommate just had to sleep in on a weekend, and he just had to make sure we miss the beach day." Zachary made it to the top of the hill soon after, equally exhausted.

"It's the hottest day of the year so far, and you spend it sleeping in?" Professor Romero laughed.

"It's okay though," the twins interrupted.

"Our spot-" Lisa began, dressed in a flower top and swim skirt.

"-is still available," finished Clare, whose dress matched her sister's but was slightly more revealing.

"That's good, so shall we?" asked Cascade. The group agreed and headed down to the crystal seas that surround South Honors. Zachary was astonished on how beautiful the sea was, but was brought back to Earth when suddenly found himself underwater. He quickly arose to see Riley and Cascade laughing at him, but he soon became the laugh master when a large wave swamped over the both of them and submerged them under the blue.

"Hey, the food's ready," Lisa informed the three that were acting like children in the water. The gang soon enjoyed a sit-down lunch of hot-dogs and hamburgers. After getting a sip of his soda, Riley proceeded to take a bite of his burger until a cloud of sand was kicked into his face. Riley immediately shot up to see who would even dare to mess with him.

"Still so worked-up, huh bro? said an unfamiliar voice. Professor Romero got up to confront the troublemaker was.

"Was that really necessary?" Romero yelled at the unknown person.

"Calm your sack, Romero, is it bad to have fun with your little brother?" the hooligan replied.

"Back off, Rodney!" Clare yelled at the student whose name is Rodney.

Zachary moved closer to Cascade to get some details on this nuisance.

"Who's this guy?" he whispered into her ear, noticing that he and Riley look exactly alike, the only exception being that the mystery person was much taller than he was.

"That's Rodney Bogard, Riley's older brother." Cascade explained.

"He has a brother?" Zachary asked with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, but unlike Riley whose kindness was masked by his corrupt reputation, Rodney's just a natural born asshole," she replied with slight irritation in her voice.

"Hey, babe, how've ya been? You still sane after our break-up?" Rodney asked Clare with an evil smirk taped onto his face.

"Don't talk to my sister like that! We want nothing to do with you!" Lisa intervened.

"What, you two still angry on how I almost ripped you two apart?" Rodney instigated,. Zachary easily figured out that the twins must've had a relationship with Rodney, for there wouldn't be so much tension at the moment.

"How dare you bring that up!" Clare shouted.

"You lied to Lisa about our relationship and you decided to get with her even though we were still together!"

"You made me despise Clare due to the fact that I thought she dumped you!" Lisa cried with an equal amount of anger.

"Aw, poor babies," Rodney teased with slight venom in his tone.

"Rodney, shut the fuck up!" Riley screamed.

"Just get the fuck out of here!" When he said that, Rodney shoved his brother into the sand and held him down with his foot.

"You got a lot of nerve shit-talkin' me like that!" Rodney spat with eyes full of abusive fury.

"Why don't we settle this like mature students? If I beat you to a duel, you leave my friends and I alone," Riley suggested.

"Okay, I accept, but if I win..." Rodney let his brother get up from the hot sand as he stroked his chin, thinking of something he can wager against Riley.

"If I win, you have to drop out of South Honors Duel Academy!"

The gasp of his friends was clearly audible to Riley's ears as he accepted the challenge.

"You can't force a drop-out, Rodney!" Romero shouted in anger, which for him was a rare sight.

"Hell I can't," Rodney replied as he readied his duel disc and deck.

"I've made other students drop-out before, so this isn't a new deal that I've made."

Riley readied his own duel disc and moved into duel position.  
>"Ready, asshole?" Riley asked in annoyance.<p>

"Ready as I'll ever be you little shit," Rodney replied with an evil smile stretched along his face.

* * *

><p>Riley: 4000 Rodney: 4000

"I draw!" Riley began.

"I summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon in attack mode!" A grotesque dragonic monstrosity rose from the ground with an undead knight mounted on its back, readying itself for battle.

"I end my turn!"

"Ooh, nice card, but I don't give a shit!" Rodney laughed.

"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 1400) in attack mode, along with three cards face down. Now I end."

Riley drew his next card and decided to use his traditional strategy with Vampire Genesis.

"I tribute my Paladin to summon my Vampire Lord, and by removing him from play, I special summon Vampire Genesis in attack mode!"

"God, that strategy is getting old." Rodney said, unimpressed with his brother's frequent use of the same strategy.

"Yeah, but why stop using a strategy that helps you win a duel," Riley responded, making a decent point.

"Now Genesis, attack his Magnet Warrior!" Riley commanded, but in a split second his ultimate monster was destroyed.

"What?" Riley asked, confused on how his monster was destroyed so quickly.

"You just gotta love Sakuretsu Armor." Rodney laughed as the suit of armor he activated was sent to the graveyard along with his brother's trademark monster.

"Now, I believe it's my turn?" Rodney asked, knowing that Riley was unable to make a move.

"I thought so, anyway, I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior (ATK: 1500/ DEF: 1800). Oh, but what's this?" Rodney asked sarcastically.

"It looks like my Ultimate Offering has been activated, so I pay one-thousand life points to summon two more monsters."

Riley: 4000/ Rodney: 3000

"Come out and play Alpha the Magnet Warrior (ATK: 1400/ DEF: 1700) and Beta number two!" Riley stepped back when he saw how fast Rodney filled the field with his monsters, but regained his composure and confronted his brother.

"You done yet?" Riley asked who was now very irritated.

"I'm just gettin' started, runt," Rodney replied.

"Now, I send Alpha, Gamma and one Beta to the graveyard to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (ATK: 3500/ DEF: 3850)! Goodbye bro, I'll see ya' back at home when the year's over! Attack him directly!" Rodney commanded as his Valkyrion and Beta annihilated Riley's life points with one blow.

Riley: 0/ Rodney: 3000

Riley fell into the sand on his knees after he was defeated so quickly. The twins and Cascade ran over to his aid, while Romero and Zachary glared at Rodney, who was now casually walking away.

"A deal's a deal bro, I'll see you off on the next helicopter back home," Rodney shouted with his back turned towards the others. Riley clenched his fists in the sand, shaking in anger towards his brother. Lisa, Clare and Cascade did their best to help him calm down, but it had no effect. Zachary took note on how Rodney treated his little brother and decided to take a stand for his best friend.

"HEY RODNEY!" Zachary called out. Rodney turned around see who had the courage to call him out. When he looked back to see Zachary standing by, he laughed.

"Stickin' up for Riley, eh?" Rodney laughed.

"That's real nice, but I got more important business to take care of then deal with you," he ended and continued to walk away.

"I'll go through with Riley's wager," Zachary said, this catching Rodney's ears.

"Will you now? So if I beat you, _**you'll **_leave South Honors also," Rodney suggested.

"That's right, and if I win Riley stays and you leave us alone," Zachary offered his side of the wager.

"Zach, don't do this!" Riley pleaded with his friend to not go through with the deal, but it was too late the duo had already gotten into duel positions.

* * *

><p>Zachary: 4000 Rodney: 4000

"Since you won the last match, I'll let you go first," Zachary offered.

"Quite the gentleman you are, anyway I place two face-downs and end my turn," Rodney concluded.

_'What's he planning? Not summoning or setting monsters is very suspicious,' _Zachary thought, but decided to continue his turn.

"I summon Ancient Gear Knight (ATK: 1800/ DEF: 500) in attack mode!" Zachary shouted as a gear-composed robot emerged with a lance in place of its right arm and its left ending in a gear shield with a spiked tip.

"Now my Knight, attack directly!" Zachary ordered.

"Nuh-uh-uh," Rodney interrupted.

"Scrap-Iron Scarecrow negates the attack," The card set itself face-down once the attack was concluded.

"Too bad that it can only be used one per turn."

Zachary set two cards face down before he ended his turn. passing the torch over to Rodney.

"My turn!" Rodney said as he drew his next card.

"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, and I equip it with Electromagnet!" Rodney shouted.

"Electromagnet allows any of the Magnet Warriors to gain 500 extra attack points," Rodney explained as a large magnet attached itself to Alpha the Magnet Warrior, giving it the 500 attack point boost (ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1700).

"Now, Alpha. Turn that knight into scarp metal!" Alpha shredded its sword through the helpless knight before it shattered and was sent to the graveyard.

Zachary: 3900/ Rodney: 4000

Zachary drew his next card and tried to muster up the best strategy he can think of to counter Riley's monsters.

"I activate the spell card, Ancient Gear Castle, and then summon another Ancient Gear Knight!"

"Ha! You're gonna experience some Deja Vu by the end of next turn with that kind of move!" Rodney insulted.

"I don't think so," Zachary replied with a faint smile on his face.

"I activate Ultimate Offering, and I pay 500 life points to summon my knight one more time!"

Zachary: 3400/ Rodney: 4000

"Why the hell would you do that?" Rodney asked, impatient of trying to understand Zachary's techniques.

"My Knight is what you would call a Gemini monster, which means that to activate their effects, you must summon them again!" Zachary explained before he made his next move.

"Ancient Gear Knight! Attack Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"

"You idiot!" Rodney laughed.

"Alpha's stronger than your knight remember?"

Zachary merely smirked at Rodney's reaction before elaborating his move.

"I was totally aware of Alpha's attack points, but my Knight received his own power boost."

"What? How?" Rodney questioned.

"My Ancient Gear Castle gives all Ancient Gear monsters a three-hundred attack point boost, making my Knight (ATK: 2100/ DEF: 500) stronger than your Magnet Warrior!" Zachary explained, much to Rodney's anger.

"So, goodbye Alpha!" he began, but was interrupted by Rodney.

"Ha! Her comes Scrap-Iron Scare-" Rodney was unable to finish his sentence when Zachary decided to interrupt _**him**_.

"Sorry, but my Knight's effect prevents the activation of any Spell or Trap cards while he attacks. Goodbye, Alpha," Zachary finished when Rodney's monster was destroyed and sent to the graveyard.

Zachary: 3400/ Rodney: 3800

Rodney growled when Zachary destroyed his monster and proceeded with his turn. His anger soon ceased when he activated his spell.

"I activate Magnetic Dust, which allows one Magnet Warrior monster that was destroyed by battle and sent to graveyard to return to my deck," Rodney explained as he shuffled Alpha back into his deck.

"Now I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior, and I activate my trap card, Magnetic Triangle!"

"What dos that do?" Zachary asked with slight fear in his tone.

"Whenever Beta is summoned and I activate this card, the other two magnet warriors can be summoned from my hand or deck," Rodney explained as both Gamma and Alpha joined Beta on the field.

"Now, by sending the three Magnet Warriors to the graveyard, I can summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior in attack mode!"

"Attack that pathetic knight!" Rodney commanded as Valkyrion easily destroyed the Knight.

Zachary: 2000/ Rodney: 3800

Rodney laughed at the sight of Zachary's life points diminishing.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Zachary hesitated when drawing his next card, negative thoughts pouring into his brain about the dire situation he is currently in. Zachary soon remembered why he chose to do this duel in the first place, so that he can save Riley from dropping out. With that thought he activated his next card.

"I activate Swords of Revealing Light! Preventing you from attacking for three whole turns." Zachary took this important time in the duel to try and flip the tables of his situation.

"I send my Ancient Gear Castle to the graveyard and use the two counters I gained by summoning my second Ancient Gear Knight twice to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" A massive robotic golem arose onto the field, dwarfing Valkyrion.

"Impressive, but he's still not strong enough to defeat Valkyrion," Rodney reminded.

"I know, I'm just buying some time," Zachary replied before ending his turn.

Rodney drew his next card, and grinned evilly.

"Heh, I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior, and then activate another Magnetic Triangle! I think you know what that means?" Rodney teased.

"Come on out, Valkyrion number two!" Zachary panicked at the fact that he now had to deal with two equally powerful monsters.

"I end!" Rodney exclaimed with joy in his voice.

"I summon Ancient Gear Soldier in attack mode and end my turn!" Zachary concluded quickly. Rodney drew his next card and smiled his widest smile seen so far.

"This duel is slowly coming to an end!" Rodney cried in excitement.

"I activate Polymerization to fuse together the two Valkyrions n the field with one in my hand to summon my ultimate monster!" Rodney shouted as a blinding white light shot through the floor.

"Arise, Magnet Blaster Golem (ATK: 4700/ DEF: 5100)!" Rodney cried as an enormous robot emerged from the ground, donned with massive twin, multi-barreled guns on each arm. Zachary fell over from the sheer unexpectedness of the fusion.

_'5100 defense points? Not even Five-Headed Dragon can penetrate through that! Along with 4700 attack points! Is this monster legit?' _Zachary thought, but was relieved when he remembered that Swords of Revealing Light was still in play with one turn left after this one.

"I activate Magnet Blaster Golem's effect, which is whenever I discard a card from my hand, I can destroy the=at many cards on your side of the field so I discard my last card to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light!" Rodney finished as his Golem fired a barrage of magnetic bullets to destroy Zachary's Swords, leaving him open for an attack next turn.

Zachary drew his next card, the guilt of losing this duel already swelling into his brain, how he was the one that failed Riley and his parents of having a future at the Academy. When Zachary saw the card in his hand, he knew just what to do.

"I summon Red Gadget (ATK: 1300/ DEF: 1500) in attack mode!" A tiny little red robot emerged onto the field, causing Rodney to laugh uncontrollably at the sight.

"Laugh all you want, but his effect allows me to add one Yellow Gadget (ATK: 1200/ DEF: 1200) from my deck to my hand, and by paying five-hundred life points, I can summon it," Zachary continued as a small yellow robot joined Red Gadget.

Zachary: 1500/ Rodney: 3800

"Now by paying another five-hundred life points, I tribute my two Gadgets to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2000)!" Zachary cried as a massive robotic dragon broke through the sand joining its other two Ancient Gear brethren.

Zachary: 1000/ Rodney: 3800

"My Dragon now gains two effects due to the sacrifice of two Gadgets: one is that whenever he inflicts battle damage, you take an extra four-hundred, two is whenever it destroys one of your monsters by battle,you take six-hundred damage," Zachary finished.

"That was an excellent performance, and those abilities aren't too shabby either," Rodney said sarcastically.

"But your monsters are all still weaker than mine, plus one attack will kill you now."

"True, but I'm still not finished," Zachary continued.

"I activate my face-down from the beginning, which was the card Shrink, which halves one of your card's attack!" Rodney's eyes widened as he saw his Golem's power diminish from four-thousand-seven-hundred to two-thousand-three-hundred-fifty.

"Now Gadjiltron, attack Magnet Blaster Golem! Mechanical Rampage!" The robotic dragon destroyed the Golem in a massive explosion, Rodney taking an extra one-thousand damage due to the Gadjiltron effects.

Zachary: 1000/ Rodney: 2150

"Now, Ancient Gear Golem! Finish him off! Mechanized Melee!" Rodney felt the holographic golem's fist blow straight through him, and reducing the rest of his life points to zero.

Zachary: 1000/ Rodney: 0

Because of the pressure and stress, Zachary collapsed into the sand of the beach.

Riley and the gang waited for the dust to settle due to Rodney's Golem's explosion to see the result of the duel. When they saw Zachary's body in the sand, they thought the worst, that Riley and him were to drop-out of South Honors Duel Academy. Cascade ran up to see if Zachary was okay, but she noticed the life points of the duel were still on his disc. When she read this, she understood that Zachary was victorious, and informed the others of his success.. This was great news to Riley, but when he looked around for his brother, he was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging it off his shoulders, he helped Cascade pick up Zachary's unconscious body and drag him back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>It was about two hours later when Zachary awoke in his bed.<p>

_'Was all that a dream?' _he thought, trying to get his mind straight. He looked over to his bedroom's desk to see Riley sleeping soundly on it. That's when it dawned on Zachary that his duel with Rodney was real and he remembered collapsing after the fact. Zachary pulled himself out of bed, but felt a terrible pain on his back. He suffered from a severe sunburn from being in the sun too long dueling Rodney without a shirt on. Unable to move anymore, Riley awoke to Zachary's grunts and groans to the pain.

"Hey, you're awake sleeping beauty," Riley laughed.

"Yep, I'm awake and happy that we get to spend the rest of the year and years to come here," Zachary replied.

"And it's all thanks to you, man," Riley got up.

"If you hadn't have stuck up for me like that, then I would've been on the helicopter ride home tomorrow morning."

"Hey, it's the least I can do," Zachary responded.

"Well, I'll go tell the others that you're awake," Riley began to walk out the door. Zachary fixed himself back onto his bed, trying to avoid as much pain from the sunburn as possible. When he finally got comfortable, he looked up to his ceiling and thought about how close he was to being shipped back home. All he knows is that, he and Riley aren't going home anytime soon.

* * *

><p><strong>YESSSSSS!<strong>

**This chapter was another long one. I just love the good sign of friendship at the end between Riley and Zachary, at least one Bogard brother is happy. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Rodney, well keep reading to find out.**

**Chapter 5 will be up soon!**

**P.S. All support cards for the Magnet warriors are original and so is Magnet Blaster Golem.**


	5. Greetings From Russia!

**It's been awhile since I last updated due to a severe case of writer's block...**

**Yeah, it really sucks but I got some fresh new ideas and all submitted OCs will show up, I promise.**

**Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy another chapter of Zachary's adventure!.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Greetings From Russia!<strong>

Zachary Curtis lay soundly asleep in his dorm room, the shutters closed making his room as dark as the night. He tossed and turned occasionally, but never awoke. It was when his dreaded alarm sounded to signify a day he loathed: Monday. He struggled to pull himself out of bed, but he managed to do so. After getting dressed and finishing a breakfast of just plain cereal, Zachary and Riley headed out.

While traveling up the long hill towards the school's main building, Cascade greeted them with a smile.

"Good morning, guys." she said with a light grin on her face.

"Good? Psh, I wish. Mondays suck Kuriboh balls." Riley spat in response. Zachary merely laughed at his best friend's action as he knows how much of a morning person Riley isn't.

"Good morning to you, too, Cascade." Zachary replied, before he was suddenly raised up by his arms and put onto a bench by none other than the Montgomery twins.

"Wah? What's going on?" Zachary panicked.

"So, Zach-" Lisa began.

"-have ya' heard?" Clare finished with a ecstatic look on her face. Zachary moved back in fear to the twin's uncomfortably close faces towards his own before answering their question.

"No, what exactly are you two talking about?" Zachary answered honestly, not knowing the slightest bit of what the twins were so interested about.

"There's a new transfer kid in the school from Russia!" Lisa cried out.

"Apparently she's really good at dueling, but before she was able to show off her strength as a duelist, her parents moved to New Domino City," Clare explained.

"And why the hell should we care?" Riley asked walking up to the bench the three were at, clearly uninterested with the current topic.

"I mean, so what, we get shitloads of transfer students all the time."

"Yeah, but the Dean made us give her a tour around the school." Clare answered.

"Wait, so you've met her already?" Cascade asked, now curious of the new Russian exchange student.

"Yep, she was a bit shy at first, but after we got to know her a bit, turns out that shes a really nice girl." Lisa added, and right after her last sentence, the tardy bell had rang.

"Dammit! See what you two do? Now we're gonna get the shit from Romero!" Riley shouted at the twins, who just laughed and continued to their class.

"Damn, well I'll see you in Strategies class, Zach," Cascade waved as she ran towards the main building.

"Well, get a move on! We're already late!" a now very impatient Riley screamed towards his friend ho was in a daze, thinking of the new and mysterious transfer student.

_'I wonder if I'll get to meet her?' _Zachary thought as he made his way his first class.

* * *

><p>Zachary and Riley, who were now seven minutes late for class, stormed into Romero's classroom. As they prepared they're apology, their mouths dropped open to see a beautiful girl who was in front of the massive classroom.<p>

"Well, if it isn't my favorite two students," Romero said sarcastically with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"Now if you two are to be so kind as to take your seats, our new student can finish what she has to say. Sorry, Kira, continue."

Zachary instantly thought that this girl, named Kira, that was currently speaking to his class must be the one that Lisa and Clare had met, due to Kira speaking in a heavy Russian accent and remembering that the twins said that she moved from Moscow, Russia. Riley on the other hand was more tuned into her appearance, taking in the sight of her amber-colored eyes and long-flowing platinum-shaded hair that went down to her lower back. Riley was instantly love-struck. The duo sat there listening to the rest of what Kirahad to say, both with expressions on their face that will make even the Queen's Guard crack a smile.

"I hope that we all can get along this year, I am greatly looking forward to my experience here and South Honors Duel Academy," Kira bowed her head as the classroom clapped in acceptance of their fellow student.

"It's so great to have you in our class Kira and it will be your duty that you enjoy your first year here in our beautiful school."

"Thank you, professor, I hope it will be as fun as I imagine it to be," Kira answered with a cute smile on her face, thus taking Riley's heart sky-high. Zachary noticed his friend's new and cheery mood and smirked when he saw the obvious truth.

"You got the hots for the new chick, don't ya' buddy? Zachary teased, but his fun soon stopped when he felt Riley' fist meet his left arm.

"Ouch, that hurt asshole!" Zachary cried under his breath.

"Next time, just shut up then," Riley glared at Zachary before the two diverted their attention back towards Kira.

"Kira, why don't you take a seat next to my student Riley there," Romero pointed, which was the moment that Riley's heart had skipped a beat or two.

"Riley, show Kira where you're sitting."

"Right here!" Riley said excitedly, which caused majority of the class to break out in laughter due to Riley's sudden response and ridiculous hand waving.

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite," Romero whispered into Kira's ear before she took her seat next to Riley. Kira didn't say anything as she sat down, but that didn't stop Riley from breaking the ice.

"Hey there, so I guess you're the new transfer student right?" he asked trying to get as good as a first impression can get.

"Yes," she replied with nothing more. Riley was surprised on how direct she was with her answer, not something he would expect from someone you just introduced yourself too. He looked over to Zachary and saw him with a teasing smirk on his face. He pulled out his cellphone an shot Riley a quick text. He picked up his phone and read what Zachary had typed.

**Fr: Zach**

**Goin great i c lol**

Riley replied with another punch to the same area on Zachary's arm before turning his attention back to Romero's lecture.

_'I'll hit her up after class' _ he thought, truly determined to win this new girl's affection.

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

"I got no chance with her at all!" Riley shouted in the quad, getting the attention of other students.

"What are you looking at?" The onlookers quickly scattered after seeing the death glare that Riley had developed.

"Calm down, Ry." Clare attempted to soothe the savage beast that was sitting across the lunch table.

"She's really shy around new faces, I mean it took us awhile before she got comfortable with us," Lisa continued.

"Yeah, don't worry, you'll get your chance," Cascade assured.

"See, you got support from all of-," Zachary cut himself off.

"-but speak of the devil." Zachary pointed towards the west side of the quad, there stood a familiar platinum-haired girl overlooking the beautiful ocean scenery.

"This is your chance bro, show her that you really want to get to know her and give her a good welcome to the academy," Zachary nudged. Looking back towards the girls, they all motioned with their hands 'go get her'.

"You know, you guys are right. Time to show her what a true South Honors student is like!" Riley shouted out before casually walking over to Kira.

Kira stood with her eyes closed, inhaling the aroma of the beautiful sea that blanketed the planet Earth. Her eyes opened to the sound of footsteps walking towards her, she turned around to see Riley standing behind her.

"Hi," Riley said in a calm voice with a light smile on his face.

"Hello," Kira replied. Riley suppressed his excitement at her response.

"You sit next to me in first period right?" Kira continued, recognizing his face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry that I was so fast to introduce myself this morning," he said with a laugh, his hand running through his spiked hair, obviously nervous. Kira giggled to his current state.

"It's no problem, I was just a little shy," Kira reassured. Riley laughed a bit to that comment.

"What is it?" Kira asked with a grin on her face.

"It's just that you don't look like the shy type, well looks like Clare and Lisa were right then," Riley looked off into the ocean.

"Lisa and Clare? Funny, the first two people I met here were named Lisa and Clare. They were twins I believe," Kira stroked her chin, trying to draw to a conclusion that these were the same two students.

"Yeah, they are. They're also one of my best friends. I can take you to see them along with my other pals," Riley offered, extending his hand.

"By the way, I'm Riley Bogard," Riley finally got a good introduction out. Kira took his hand and shook it.

"Kira Dyakov," she replied with a light smile on her face.

"C'mon, let's go introduce you," Riley, still having a grip on her hand, led her over to the table where his friends sat.

* * *

><p>"Hey there, Kira!" Lisa cried out before jumping off her seat and making her way over to Kira, shortly followed by Clare.<p>

"Hi, you two," she greeted.

"So, did Riley bite you at all?" Lisa and Clare simultaneously whispered into each of Kira's ears.

"I'M RIGHT HERE YOU KNOW!" Riley shouted at the top of his lungs, once again grabbing the attention of curious onlookers.

"Turn your heads around or I'll snap them in place!" he snarled at the students, who again scattered in fear. Kira let out a small giggle, unable to contain her amusement to Riley's short temper.

"Sorry about him," Zachary interrupted, his hands in his pockets trying his best to give her a good impression of himself.

"He's quite a hothead, but he's got a pure heart," Cascade added, walking up behind Zachary, though she was thinking that it would be difficult for Kira to believe that as Riley has been chasing Lisa and Clare around the quad.

"I can see he has a soft side," Kira answered, currently looking towards Riley's direction.

"Well anyway, I'm Cascade Novius, it's a pleasure," she introduced herself with a small bow.

"Kira Dyakov, likewise," Kira bowed back. Kira took a look at Zachary.

"And you?"

"Oh, ha-ha, sorry 'bout that," Zachary laughed as he was completely distracted by Riley's antics and had forgotten Kira was there.

"Zachary Curtis, but you can just call me Zach. Nice to meet you," Zachary introduced.

"So, since you're new, you should be a Grey Cloud right?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," Kira replied.

"Then where's your jacket?" Zachary continued, noticing that Kira did not have her Grey Cloud jacket.

"According to Professor Romero, I should be getting mine after the Duel Arena," Kira explained.

"Speaking of which, we should be making our way towards the Duel Arena soon," Cascade informed.

"Lunch is gonna end-," she was cut off by the bell's ring, signaling the end of lunch and the student's daily duels.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the Arena, Kira," Cascade left on that note.

"Yeah, me too," Zachary added as he followed Cascade. Kira stood there thinking about all the great people she had met so far. Riley was the one on her mind the most as he was the only person so far to willfully introduce himself to her. Turning away from these thoughts, she began to walk towards the Duel Arena.

Meanwhile, Riley had both Lisa and Clare by their collars, obviously managing to catch them.

"So, are we done here?" Riley asked the twins who were at his mercy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," Clare repeated.

"Sure thing Ry," Lisa laughed nervously. With a chuckle, Riley let the twins go.

"C'mon, let's go," Riley said with a smirk. Happily the trio went into the Arena.

* * *

><p>"Damn, I didn't even get to ask about her dueling skills," Zachary said to Cascade while sitting in the Duel Arena, waiting to be called for their duels.<p>

"Well, if we're lucky we can catch a duel right here," Cascade answered, spectating the current duel that was going on. Suddenly, the PM called for her.

"Well see ya, Zach, I'll meet you after your duel," Cascade left to go to her duel. Zachary was excited to finally see Cascade duel, and analyze her skills, but was interrupted when his name was called next. He groaned in frustration that he had so far never gotten to see Cascade duel, but he put it aside and rose from his seat. Proceeding to the duel arena, Zachary had an unexpected surprise.

"Kira?" Zachary exclaimed, seeing her from across the field.

"You're my opponent? But I didn't hear your name called."

"Professore Romero told me that you have quite a skill in dueling," Kira smirked.

"As do I, so he pit me against you as the main duel."

Zachary stepped back after seeing how quickly Kira's attitude had changed from the sweet and kind student to a cold and dark duelist. He regained his composure and his adrenaline started pumping through his body.

"All right then! Let's do this!" he cried out while activating his newly customized duel disk, which bore a resemblance to the Ancient Gear Golem.

"Da, this should be fun," Kira responded also activating her duel disc.

* * *

><p>Zachary: 4000 Kira: 4000

"You can start, since you're the new kid in town," Zachary began.

"Such a gentleman, fine then. I summon Gothic Angel Wynter (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 700) in attack mode!" Kira made her first move as an angel with white wings and robe emerged and took her place next to Kira.

"With one face-down, I end."

"Fine then, I summon Ancient Gear Knight-" Zachary was interrupted when Kira activate her face-down.

"Sorry Zach, but Bottomless Trap Hole removes your monster from play," she grinned evilly as she saw his knight fall into the bottomless pit and removed from the game.

"Shit," Zachary said under his breath as he place his fallen card into his pocket.

"I put a face-down and end."

"Good boy," Kira said sarcastically as she drew her next card.

"Next I summon Gothic Angel Desdemona (ATK:1900/ DEF:1900)!" Kira shouted as another angel emerged, but with light-blue wings and robe.

"Now, I attack you directly!" Kira commanded as the two Gothic Angels struck Zachary with all their force.

Zachary: 400/ Kira: 4000

Cascade, who was just victorious in her past duel saw Riley, Lisa and Clare staring towards the center arena.

"Hey guys, is everything alright?" she asked, noticing that her friends were all dumbfounded at the current situation that is taking place in the center arena. Cascade turned her attention to see that Zachary with only four-hundred life points and no monsters was stuck against Kira, with two monsters and all of her life points. Cascade was instantaneously shocked into the same state her friends were in.

"I end my turn," Kira finished.

"Holy shit, only three turns in and she already reduced me to triple digits," Zachary thought as he drew his next card, which was enough to give him his much needed combo.

"I summon Ancient Gear, and activate Machine Duplication, lets me summon two more Ancient Gears to join my little friend."

"Those weak little tinker-toys can't do anything! Matryoshka Dolls can do more damage than that!" Kira gave her opinion on Zachary's strategy.

"I never said I was finished, did I?" Zachary asked sarcastically.

"These 'tinker-toys' may not be powerful alone, but when Spell Gear is activated I can use their combined might to special summon two Ancient Gear Golems!" Zachary finished his combo. Kira was the one to take a few steps back this time as two massive robots emerged to his side of the field.

"I'll also activate my face-down! Ancient Gear Castle rise!" A battle ready castle arose from the field, granting each Golem 300 extra attack points. (Gomles: ATK: 3300/ DEF: 3000)

"Now Golems! Take out her Angels!" he commanded as the Golems made mincemeat out of Kira's Angels.

Zachary: 400/ Kira: 1000

"Are you done yet?" Kira asked aggressively.

"Even after all that? No, for my coup de gras, I activate Ancient Gear Explosive!" Zachary cried as a large explosive attached itself to one of his Golems.

"With this, I can destroy one of my Ancient Gear monsters and inflict half of its attack pints to your life points!" Zachary concluded as the bomb on the Golem detonated, sending the shockwave over to Kira, erasing the rest of her life points.

Zachary: 400/ Kira: 0

Kira collapsed on her knees to her knees as the crowd that had their attention turned to this duel roared in Zachary's favor, but he ignored it and walked over to Kira.

"Hey, I'm sorry for making your fisrt day here your first loss as well," he apologized sincerely.

"It's fine," Kira said, head still facing the floor.

"I shouldn't have judged before the duel, looks like I was proven wrong." Picking up her head and looking Zachary into his cobalt eyes, she wore a heartfelt smile on her face. Zachary laughed as he held out a hand for assistance, which she gladly took as he picked her up of the arena floor and they proceeded to exit the now nearly empty duel arena.

* * *

><p>"That was quite a show you two!" Romero exclaimed putting his arms around Zachary and Kira's shoulders. The gang was gathered at Lisa and Clare's dorm for a little celebratory game party.<p>

"Kira, you gave Zachary a run for his money there."

"You sure did," Zachary replied holding up his glass of cider as a toast to his new rival as well as friend.

"I guess, but that was a great comeback there." Kira replied klinking her glass with Zachary's. The toast was soon interrupted when Lisa called out to them.

"Hey whose up next for Black Ops? Riley and Clare were eliminated."

Riley tossed his controller into the air in utter frustration.

"This game is fucking rigged! There's no way you can no-scope me from across the map like that!" Riley challenged Cascade to the final kill.

"Hey now, don't judge. I'm a girl who can kill in video games as well as win in duels," Cascade mocked Riley, who was growing even angrier.

Laughing at Riley's most recent outburst, Zachary looked back at Kira.

"You know how to play?" he asked giving her the available controller.

"I bet I'll get my Attack Dogs in thirty-seconds," Kira challenged.

"Oh. Well then," Zachary took his controller and accepted.

"Let's see about that."

The two sat on the floor directly in front of the plasma T.V. and started the match. Romero took an empty couch seat as he watched his students all get along so well together and enjoy themselves. Especially Kira, which was the student that was the main focus of his analysis. The gang continued playing, the occasional challenge called by Zachary on how Kira can no-scope him from across the map also. As she was defending her kill, she didn't hesitate to think that these people around her had opened up their lives and provided their friendship to her. At that moment, Kira knew that she was the luckiest transfer student ever to come to South Honors Duel Academy.

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><p><strong>And that's a wrap on Chapter 5! Special thanks to ThunderousViktory for the kickass Russian student Kira and her Gothic Angel Deck. I'll be sure that this duel isn't her last ;). All other OC's will find their place and Chapter 6 will be up and I promise that the wait it won't be nearly as long as long as it was for this one. So stay tuned.<strong>

**Please Read and Review!**


	6. The Second Romero?

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the support because that is really helping push on even further with this story. Well I got a great amount of awesome OCs and all will be in, but unfortunately I will not accept anymore OCs until further notice. So here it is and enjoy Chapter 6 of Zachary's adventure!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: The Second Romero?<strong>

Zachary sat in Professor von William's class, head suspended lazily on his left hand with a pencil doodling in his right. Riley was fast asleep next to him and Cascade was struggling to hold her eyelids open.

"So, looks like this is how you're going to counter techniques and strategies, eh?" the professor barked from the front of the classroom after catching the trio lazily doing their own thing. Cascade and Zachary awoke immediately after hearing the professor's giant voice, but Riley still remained sound asleep.

"Riley Bogard!" shouted Professor von Williams at the top of his lungs, making nearly every student in the classroom flinch. Riley hesitated to awake, but he managed.

"Ugh, huh? Is class over?" Riley asked, still half-asleep. The class laughed at his grogginess, but the professor was not the slightest bit amused. Slapping a detention notice on his desk, Von Williams shot a glare that would turn Medusa to stone.

"After class, you stay here," he growled through clenched teeth. Riley, who was now wide awake, groaned in displeasure before stuffing the notice into his pocket. For what seemed like eternity for the students in the classroom, the lunch bell rang.

"I'll meet up with you guys later, I gotta take my place in Hell with Satan," Riley said remaining in his seat while waving off Zachary and Cascade.

"Okay, well if he lets you out early, you know where to find us," Zachary replied as he and Cascade began to walk out of the classroom.

"I don't think he'll be getting out early," Cascade added before exiting the classroom and leaving for the cafeteria for lunch.

* * *

><p>At the cafeteria, Cascade and Zachary met up with the twins and Kira, whom were currently waiting for their friends.<p>

"Hey guys," Lisa greeted, but it didn't take long for the girls to notice there was a missing hothead among the duo.

"Where is Riley?" Kira asked.

"Idiot got mixed up with the professor," Zachary laughed at his friend's misfortune.

"Yep, so he's in detention and knowing Professor von Williams, he won't be out until next period," Cascade predicted, knowing how strict Professor Von Williams.

"Well, sucks for Riley," Clare laughed, mocking Riley's current predicament.

"Yeah, serves him right for stretching out our collars yesterday," Lisa recalled when Riley was chasing them around the quad while introducing Kira.

"Can you two repeat that, but a little louder this time," an angry voice echoed from behind. The twins slowly turned around, instantly recognizing the voice. They looked up to see Riley's short-temper flaring.

"Heeeey old friend-" Clare attempted to sound as nice as possible.

"-looks like your out early," Lisa continued, scratching the back of her head. Riley held his glare for about five more seconds before looking down and breaking into a laugh.

"I'm just messin' around, looks like Von Williams didn't have the stick in his ass too far up today," Riley explaining why he was out only fifteen minutes after lunch started, before taking a seat with his friends.

After lunch the Duel Arena went by quickly, which gave the group the rest of the day to do whatever they want. The only problem is, that they had no idea what to do.

"So. Fucking. Bored," Riley breathed out, his body draped across his dorm's couch. The gang had headed over to Riley and Zachary's dorm to figure out what to do, but not one person had any ideas.

"I know-" Clare said.

"-so are we," Lisa finished, the twins leaning on eachother's backs.

"So, is this normal here in this country?" Kira asked, obviously bored like the rest.

"No, usually there is always something to do at the school," Cascade answered, her head resting in one of her hands while sitting on the kitchen stool next to Zachary.

"But, today, is the only exception," she finished before completely burying her face into her forearms.

"Do you have any ideas, Zach?" her muffled voice asked the boy she was sitting next to, who had the same position as she did. The group was waiting for an answer, but all they got was quiet breathing.

"Wow, even Zach got bored to sleep," Clare commented.

"That's unusual," Lisa added, as the group know that Zachary is always the one who would perk everyone up to do something.

"Well, if Zach's crashed, it's inevitable. We're not gonna be doin' anything any time soon," Riley inferred. The group all let out a bored sigh, but they all woke up when a knock on the door was heard.

"I got it," Riley got up to answer.

"Hope its a clown or something." He opened the door to see none other than Professor Romero, casually standing on the otherside.

"Hello, Riley," Romero greeted with a smile.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Riley and the group was caught by surprise to see Romero pop up out of nowhere without warning.

"No, but what are you doing here teach?" Riley asked as the professor walked in.

"So, are you planning on saving us from this boredom?" Clare asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

"Actually, I'm looking for Zachary," he explained his purpose for being at their dorm.

"My brother has returned from vacation and has taken back his title as the Dean of the academy, and he has heard from his temporary replacement that Zachary has so far the best record of any student so far this year."

"Aw sweet! Dean Romero's back!" Lisa cried out in excitement.

"It's about time your bro came back, teach," Riley replied, who was also happy to hear the news, but was more contained than Lisa.

"Yes, the temporary replacement wasn't doing all too well," Romero added.

"Um, sorry, but who exactly is Dean Romero?" Kira asked, completely unaware of why the others were so happy.

"Dean Romero is Professor Romero's older twin brother. He's the kindest and most fun person you'll ever meet at this school,"  
>Cascade informed Kira, who now understood and is looking forward to meeting him.<p>

"Hey! Now don't give him _all _the credit!" Romero complained that his brother whom had not even met her has gotten her approval.

"Well, Zach's right here professor," Cascade laughed as she put her hand on the sleeping Zachary's shoulder.

"Zach," she hissed as she slapped him on the head to wake up.

"Gah, E equals MC squared and Kuriboh," Zachary jolted awake, making the others laugh at his dream equation.

"Are you alright, Zachary?" Romero finished laughing and asked his fellow student.

"Professor?" Zachary rubbed his eyes to see clearly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you to see my brother, who had just returned from his vacation and is back as Dean of the school," Romero explained.

"No need to take him to me, I'd rather get the exercise and walk here myself," an unfamiliar voice echoed from the doorstep.

"It would certainly save me the effort, well this is Zachary Curtis," Romero introduce a still groggy Zachary to the figure at the doorstep. The figure had the exact appearance of Professor Romero, but with shorter hair and a small beard. He was also slightly taller, which was odd considering the fact that he and his brother were twins.

"Well, well, Mr. Curtis, it certainly is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Nicholas Romero, Dean of South Honors Duel Academy," he introduced himself with proud stature.

* * *

><p>"Pardon me, Dean Romero, I'm sorry but today hasn't been the most active one and my current state isn't to be introduced to someone of such a high rank," Zachary hastily got his words out, to the amusement of the Romero twins and the others around him.<p>

"It's perfectly fine Zachary, I'm not all for that professional junk," Nicholas assured.

"Also, just call me Nicholas, as I see that you refer to my brother as Romero."

"But getting down to business, I'm here to see your skills in person." Zachary was caught off by that statement due to the fact that he wasn't even prepared to duel after the arena.

"So, are we off to the arena again?" he asked grabbing his duel disc and deck to begin to proceed back to the arena.

"Nope," Nicholas said.

"This is a private duel so it will be held on the shoreline, that way only us here know about it. Besides, my first day back I don't want all the students clamoring around the same area. So how about it, are you up for it?" Zachary looked at all his friends, all gave him encouraging looks to agree.

"Zach, man, this duel will for sure be your toughest one yet," Riley pointed out.

"He's right," Lisa and Clare said in unison.

"Yeah, Zach. I hope your up for this," Cascade asked, trying to let Zach know that this duel will be a difficult one. Zachary looked down at his hand, in which he held his deck. He stayed in that position for a few seconds before he looked up with confident eyes, giving the group their answer.

"Let's do this."

* * *

><p>The ocean was calm, as if it knew a duel was going to be held there. The waves gently washed up onto shore, where two duelists stood a reasonable distance from each other. The duelists were Zachary Curtis, a freshman Grey Cloud and Nicholas Romero, the older twin brother of Professor Isaac Romero and the Dean of South Honors. The two both had eager looks on their faces as each readied their duel discs for what would be their most exciting duel so far this year.<p>

"Let's get this duel under way!" Nicholas announced as he drew his first card, signaling the start of the duel.

Nicholas: 4000/ Zachary: 4000

"I'll summon Telekinetic Shocker (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 700) attack mode!" Out from the sandy beach arose a humanoid figure dressed in a red and black outfit, topped with a non-transparent space helmet that concealed its face. The card discharged electricity from its palms as an intimidation factor, but Zachary was not phased. His actual thoughts were on this monster Nicholas had just summoned, to Zachary it was a monster he had never seen before. Due to the discharge of electricity, he came to the conclusion that this monster was a Thunder-type.

"I bet you're wondering what type my monster is right?" Nicholas blurted out as if he read Zachary's mind.

"Well, judging by the electricity, I'm guessing it's a Thunder-type," Zachary gave his best guess.

"Wrong. Telekinetic Shocker belongs to the new breed of monster known as the Psychic-type, whose abilities revolve around my life points," Nicholas explained.

"Psychic-type?" Cascade turned to Professor Romero.

"Is there such a thing?" Romero stood with a stern look on his face, trying his best to decipher his brother's plan before answering Cascade's question.

"Well, obviously one is standing right in front of you. This Psychic-type is a powerful one indeed."

"Professor, he said that a Psychic-type revolves around life points, what did he mean by that?" Riley asked, curious of this new type's effects.

"Yes, majority of the Psychic-type have effects that revolve around the paying of life points to activate powerful effects. This can either come at a major advantage, or a severe disadvantage if not used wisely," the professor explained as if he was an expert on this type of monster. The three reverted their attention back to the duel, which had advanced to Zachary's turn during their little conversation.

"Okay, Ancient Gear Knight! Attack Telekinetic Shocker!" Zachary ordered as his knight drove its lance through the helpless monster and into Nicholas' life points.

Nicholas: 3900/ Zachary: 4000

"That monster was cool and all, but my Ancient Gears rock the competition! I'll set one face-down and end," Zachary shouted with excitement, his adrenaline pumping already.

"Now don't get too ahead of yourself, Zachary. For the duel had just begun!" Nicholas drew his card.

"I activate Emergency Teleport, which allows me to Special Summon one Level 3 or lower Psychic-type monster from my hand or deck!" Nicholas took a card from his deck and threw it onto the field.

"I'll use it to summon Mind Protector (ATK: 0/ DEF: 2200)!" From a green and yellow portal jumped out a yellow robot with electricity sparking from its palms.

"With zero attack points, that card won't do anything to Zachary's knight," Cascade said.

"That doesn't mean that the monster has no purpose. Knowing my brother, he's going to do something unexpected," Romero replied, keeping a sharp eye on his brother.

"Now, my little robot will serve his purpose as I sacrifice him to summon Overdrive Teleporter (ATK: 2100/ DEF: 1200) in attack mode!" Mind Protector that Nicholas had just summoned split apart and transformed into a massive pillar of green lightning, as his newest monster emerged from the static. This humanoid male was dressed in a white overcoat and pants with yellow circuitry patterns stamped across them. His yellow eyes shown through his green visor, striking fear into Zachary.

"Overdrive Teleporter! Vaporize that Knight!" The monster held up its hand and fired a yellow beam that disintegrated the Ancient Gear Knight, sending it to the graveyard along with some of Zachary's life points.

Nicholas: 3900/ Zachary: 3700

_'I can tell he planned to summon this card from the start. Telekinetic Shocker was just a figurehead to introduce this new type to me so I can get my confidence to rise up just so he can crash it down with Overdrive Teleporter. He's playing a psychological duel along with this one. I also have a feeling that this is just step two of his total plan. Just stay calm and you'll be able to push through this,' _Zachary thought as he drew his card, trying to develop another strategy to counter Nicholas.

_'Looks like he got me figured out,' _Nicholas thought after seeing Zachary's inquisitive looks.

_'Kudos to you, I've made the right choice to duel you.'_

"I summon Yellow Gadget in attack mode!" Zachary's little yellow robot erupted out onto his empty side of the field.

"By summoning him, I can add Green Gadget to my hand." Zachary searched through his deck and added the red counterpart to his hand.

"I wonder what his strategy is," Kira wondered aloud.

"That monster is nowhere near as powerful as the Overload Teleporter."

"I wouldn't underestimate him, remember he hasn't lost a duel yet," Riley reminded everyone. The group nodded in truth of Riley's words that Zachary has not lost one duel in his South Honors Curriculum.

"He's the only duelist I've seen that can turn the tables so fast it'll put a turbo duel to shame." They soon turned their attention towards the duel.

"I'll activate my face-down, Ultimate Offering!" Zachary planned to put the same famous trap card that had saved him multiple times into use.

"By paying five-hundred life points, I can summon another monster and that is exactly what I plan on doing."

Nicholas: 3900/ Zachary: 3200

Nicholas smirked, eager to make this duel more interesting.

"I'll tribute Yellow Gadget to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera (ATK: 2300/ DEF: 1300)!" During that command, a red ooze engulfed the Gadget, and from the mass out came a massive multi-headed beast.

"Chimera! Annihilate Overdrive Teleporter!" The Chimera did not hesitate to charge at the defenseless monster and trample it, sending the monster to the graveyard.

Nicholas: 3700/ Zachary: 3200

After Overdrive was destroyed, a yellow beam of light emerged from where Nicholas' fallen monster stood and struck through his body.

"Hn, ah, what was that?" Nicholas winced holding his chest to ease the pain.

"One of my Chimera's special abilities, Zachary answered.

"You see, Gadjiltron Chimera has three different effects it can use depending on which Gadget I sacrificed to summon it and with Yellow Gadget as the sacrifice, you take seven-hundred points of damage for every monster he destroys by battle!" Zachary explained as Nicholas'life points dropped.

Nicholas: 3000/ Zachary: 3200

"Quite a strategy there, Zachary," Nicholas complimented as he pulled himself back onto his feet.

"But the duel is not over yet."

"I know, and I plan on making it worth-while," Zachary smiled confidently as he ended his turn.

"I love your enthusiasm, the kind of spirit more students here need. Well getting this show on the road, I summon Hushed Psychic Cleric (ATK: 0/ DEF: 2100) in attack mode!" Taking its place next to Nicholas was a female monster dressed in robes with a visor covering its eyes and wielding a staff. Immediately after being summone n the _attack_ position,it switched to defense mode.

"Wait, I thought you summoned that card in attack mode," Zachary was confused.

"Its my Cleric's ability. Every time she is summoned normally or flipped, she switches automatically into defense position," Nicholas explained his card in more thoroughly, allowing the others to understand.

"But that's just the start of it, by discarding one card from my hand I can remove one Psychic-type monster from play." Nicholas threw one of his cards into the graveyard in order to remove another.

"I'll remove my Overdrive Teleporter from play and putting one face-down card, I end my turn." Zachary smiled as the duel advanced to his turn.

"That monster has a great defense and all, but it still can't hold back my Chimera's power! Attack that Cleric!" The Cleric suffered the same fate as did Overdrive Teleporter as she was sent to the graveyard. Another beam shot through Nicholas, dragging his life points down even lower by another seven-hundred points.

Nicholas: 2300/ Zachary: 3200

"I was hoping you'd do that," Nicholas brushed off the pain from the beam hitting him and had a sinister smile across his face.

"Because my Cleric was destroyed, I can take the monster I removed from play and special summon it!" Zachary's eyes widened as Overdrive Teleporter came back to battle.

"That's fine, my Chimera is still stronger! It'll just be a repeat of what happened two turns before!"

"You don't know Overdrive Teleporter's effect do you?" Nicholas said out of the blue. Zachary was a little confused at first, but he then realized that Nicholas had never actually used the Teleporter's effect.

"That's what I thought," Nicholas concluded after reading Zachary's facial expression.

"By paying two-thousand life points, I can special summon two level-three Psychic-type monsters from my deck!"

Nicholas: 300/ Zachary: 3200

"I choose to summon Psychic Commander (ATK: 1400/ DEF: 800) and Mental Seeker (ATK: 800/ DEF: 600)!" Two more monsters arose next to Overdrive Teleporter, one that was riding in a UFO-looking hovercraft and the other was slightly reminiscent to a much younger-looking Overdrive.

"I don't know why you wasted all those life points to summon monsters that can't even match-up to my Chimera's attack points!" Zachary stayed confident as best he could.

"I never said I was finished," Nicholas interrupted.

"Now, Mental Seeker and Overdrive Teleporter! Synchronize!" In a flash of bright green light that towered into the sky came a new monster that smashed all of Zachary's positive confidence into pieces.

"Say hello to Hyper Psychic Blaster (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 2500)!" The Hyper Psychic Blaster had two duel cannons on its arms, that took aim at Zachary's Chimera.

"To join this battle will be Destructotron (ATK: 1600/ DEF: 400)! Now Baster! Turn that Chimera into debris!" With its cannons, it fired two shots of green energy that struck the Chimera, sending it to the graveyard.

Nicholas: 300/ Zachary: 2500

"Now my other two friends, end this duel." With a combined attack from Psychic Commander and Destructotron, Zachary's life points were reduced to the zero, which marked his first loss at the academy. He fell to his knees in defeat, unable to keep himself up due to the shock he had just experienced.

* * *

><p>Cascade and the others, along with Nicholas and Professor Romero ran to Zachary's side to see if he was okay. It was difficult to find an answer as his head hung in defeat, his hair shadowing his eyes for none to see.<p>

"I lost, I can't believe I lost," Zachary said with obvious grief in his voice.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself," Cascade did her best to try and comfort him.

"You put up a good fight, Zach, you should be proud of yourself," Riley helped to console as well, but both seemed to have not had any effect on him. Nicholas approached closer and bent down on one knee next to Zachary, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There hasn't been a student that had put me in a corner like that, if it wasn't for a simple draw of a card to change all that, I surely would've lost." Zachary looked up to see all of his friends standing above him, all giving him heart-warming smiles to ensure that a loss is a loss.

"All losses are learning experiences, you are already skilled with those cards of yours. By taking in all the losses that you will have, and there will surely be many more, you learn new strategies and counter-strategies that will help you push all the way to the top." Zachary looked back down, the group thought that this loss was going to be the end of his dueling at the Academy, but it all ceased when they heard quiet laughter.

"You guys are right," Zachary stood up as confident as ever.

"A loss is a learning experience, and you can't get through life without losing something, so I plan on getting better with my Ancient Gears and one day I will be on the top!"

"That's the spirit, buddy" Lisa and Clare said in unison as they put their arms around him for a group hug.

"Sorry to break this moment of friendship, but Zachary, once you get better we will have a rematch. When that rematch comes, I will not hold back," Nicholas assured with a friendly smile yet it gave off a dark vibe that pumped Zachary's adrenaline even faster than during the duel.

"I'll hold you to that, and I will defeat you when that time comes," Zachary and Nicholas looked into each other's eyes, both seeing a burning passion to make their rematch the most climatic duel of the Academy.

"Well, why don't we get off this beach and grab a bite to eat?" suggested Romero, breaking the tension of the moment.

"I'm down," Riley said putting his hands behind his head.

"Sure, why not," Kira added. Nicholas put one arm around his brothers neck.

"So I bet you're paying then bro," he said with a goofy grin on his face.

"Wait what? You're the one with the better pay!" Isaac challenged.

"Yes, but I just got off vacation remember?"

"So I that means I have to pay! How much did you spend!" The students laughed at their sibling teachers, enjoying the brotherly love that was stuffed between them. Zachary looked to see all these people that support and care for him. He had never been happier to be with all of them than right now, knowing there's more for him to learn than just how to do duel better. Turning his mindset from these thoughts, he joined his friends in order to spend another fun night at the Academy.

* * *

><p><strong>Well there it is. Don't worry all OCs that were submitted during the writing of this chapter were accepted, just no more after this one.<strong>

***Covers head* DON'T HURT ME!**

**Just kidding, anyways Chapter 7 will be in, so be patient and stay tuned.**

**Riley: Why do you keep saying stay tuned? This isn't a damn TV show.**

**Condor: Shut up, it sounds cool.**

**Riley: Whatever, man. Can't believe I'm part of your imagination.**

**Condor: What's that supposed to mean? Hey don't walk away from me! I can delete you!**


	7. Riley's Hunt

**I sincerely apologize for the giant delay in the story update. School is time consuming and for some reason I can't type on my laptop I use during the week, and on top of all that was a SERIOUS case of writer's block. Anyways, here's chapter 7 :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Riley's Hunt<strong>

Roughly two hours after Zachary's duel with Nicholas, the gang had an excellent sit-down dinner at Isaac's home on the island. Zachary and Riley were the only ones still at the home and were currently on the couch, suffering from a "food coma".

"Dude, I've never had so much good food in one sitting," Riley groaned out, his hand rest on his aching stomach.

"I know, that fish filet, my god..." Zachary added. Romero entered the room to see Zachary and Riley spread out on the couch.

"Ah the genuine aftermath of my brother's cooking," laughed Romero.  
>"Nonetheless, its getting late you two, you best be off to your dorm so you can get a good night sleep."<p>

Zachary and Riley groaned once again, and proceeded to groggily stumble towards the door.

"See you tomorrow professor," Zachary said as the door closed behind them. Nicholas then approached his brother with a wide grin.

"So, can I crash here tonight?" Romero buried his face in his palm before nodding in agreement.

* * *

><p>Zachary and Riley, who have recovered fro their "coma", were currently crossing the beach were Nicholas and him had dueled. Zachary looked at the spot where he stood during the battle and pondered on his defeat. Riley noticed his friend's solemn expression and placed a hand on his shoulder.<p>

"Hey, it's just one duel. Also, you put up one hell of a fight." Riley comforted. Zachary smiled at his words.

"I know, I was just-" Zachary's sentence was cut off when he noticed a black figure in the distance. Zachary squinted his eyes to get a better look at the figure. Riley noticed his friend's different line of sight and followed it, leading him to the same figure.

"Who is that?" he asked, curious of the identity. Zachary shook his head.

"I don't know, but it looks like a girl." Zachary had noticed the figure had long, golden-honey hair. Riley nudged Zachary's arm.

"You wanna get closer?" Zachary took another look towards her direction and shook his head.

"I don't want to disturb her, c'mon we gotta get back, it's getting late." The two headed back towards their dorm, and for the rest of the night hadn't thought of the mysterious figure they saw earlier. The fell fast asleep in preparation for the new day tomorrow.

* * *

><p>"So when did you two leave last night?" Cascade asked while sipping her water bottle. The group was currently enjoying lunch,and Zachary swallowed the piece of orange chicken he bit in order to answer her question.<p>

"About 10'o'clock. We were there pretty late." Cascade laughed in response.

"I'll say, the girls and I all left around 7, you two must really seem to like the Romero brothers huh?" Riley stuffed his face with some french fries before he decided to speak.

"I only like them for the free perks we get," Riley stated bluntly. The group just laughed, enjoying the 'to-the-point' demeanor of their friend.

"Come now, Riley, you can't only like them for that," Kira giggled.  
>"I've only known them for a few days and I've taken a fondness to them." Riley swallowed his food before answering.<p>

"Yeah, well that's beside the point." Riley then had a sudden remembrance of the girl him and Zachary had saw the previous night.  
>"Hey, by any chance, do any of you girls know a girl that visits the beach at night?"<p>

"That's an off-topic question," Lisa commented while slurping her spaghetti.

"I agree, why do you ask?" Clare added. Zachary then took a moment to remember the same thing Riley was talking about.

"Because, while we were walking back to the dorm last night, we saw this girl sitting on the beach." Clare, Lisa, Kira, and Cascade were puzzled, but at the same time curious.

"Well, I have no idea who that might be," Kira gave her answer.

"Yeah, me neither," Cascade added.  
>"So, she was just there? Not doing anything specific?"<p>

"Not really, she was just sitting there," Riley answered.  
>"I don't know, but I was just curious. Wanted to see if you guys knew of anyone like her."<p>

The girls shook their heads while Riley shrugged his shoulders. The gang continued finished their lunch just before the bell rang. Riley stood and before leaving he noticed a girl walking towards the main building, with long locks of golden-honey hair swaying behind her. Riley came to the conclusion that this must have been the girl they saw last night as he recalled the hair color and the Black Cloud jacket that blended in with the night sky.

_"At least I know where you'll be tonight,"_ Riley thought as he casually walked into the building.

* * *

><p>Riley had spent much of the rest of the day pursuing her through classes, realizing that he shares many of them with her and never seemed to notice. After the duel arena, Riley met up with Zachary to tell him of his 'findings'.<p>

"Yo, Zach, so I think I know the identity of our little beach gal," Riley smirked.

"You actually managed to find out her identity?" Zachary asked curiously.

"Not exactly, I didn't get her name as following someone around can only get you so far," Riley replied.

"Wait a minute, you **_followed_** this girl all around the school? Dude, that's a little creepy don't you think?" Zachary clearly stating his opinion on his friend's 'investigative' methods.  
>"What if it's not even the right girl?"<p>

"I will find out if it's the right girl tonight at the beach, and even if it isn't I'll still confront her," Riley explained his plan. Zachary shook his head violently.

"Hold up, why are you even so interested about this girl and what she does on the beach at night?" Riley shrugged his shoulders.

"She seems interesting, plus I've got nothing better to do with all my free time."

"Okay then, but you're gonna be doing this thing on your own, I have no part in this," Zachary waved himself off.

"That's fine, c'mon, I gotta get some rst before I pull this little hunt off," Riley laughed before rushing off towards their dorm with Zachary quick to follow.

* * *

><p><strong>Later that day: 8:15 p.m.<strong>

Riley had already left his dorm, and was now currently resting on the sandy shores of South Honors' coastline, patiently waiting for the mystery girl to show up.

"C'mon Black Cloud, where are ya'? Riley was carefully screening the entire coastline, looking out for any figures he can make out in the dark horizon. Riley then turned his attention to a large rock on the beach. What he noticed wasn't the rock, but what appeared to be sitting on it. Riley then proceeded to make his way towards the rock as quietly as he can possibly can. After sneaking his way across dozens of yards, he made it to the rock and immediately took notice of the rock's actual size as it nearly doubled him in height. Riley did not see the height as a problem as he took advantage of the depressions in the stone's surface to climb up the monolith. When got his hands to the top of the rock, and decided to surprise the figure he believed to still be there. With a powerful pull, he threw himself onto the top of the monolith.

"AH HA!" he shouted out, hoping to get some sort of reaction. What he really got was just an empty space on top of a giant rock. Riley pulled himself up and looked in all directions around him, hoping to find footsteps in the sand, thus leading to an escape. When he found none, he slumped down onto the stone's surface.

"Wow, what a goddamn waste o-" Riley didn't get to finish his sentence as he was smacked on the back of his head with a hard object.

"OUCH! WHAT THE FUCK!" he shouted, rubbing the back of his head to ease the pain. He looked back to see a figure standing above him. Due to his head injury, his vision was blurred and couldn't make out if the the figure was male or female.

"Who are you? And why do you keep a following me?" the figure asked. Riley took note of the feminine voice and concluded that the person that just hit him was a female. He also took note of the strong Italian accent she was speaking in.

"Why the fuck did you smack me with- whatever the hell you hit me with!" Riley barked back, his vision still a blur.

"You didn't answer my questions. Who are you and why have you been following me around these last two days?" the girl hissed. Riley's vision was finally starting to clear up, and the first thing he saw was a head of long, golden-honey hair that reached down to the girl's back. He also saw that she had white highlights on her bangs, but the thing that drew his attention the most were her stunning sapphire blue eyes, which were much more prominent than that of Cascade's. He then saw what was in her hand, which was identifiable as a medium-sized branch from a nearby tree.

"So? You following me?" she asked again. Riley got up and looked her in the eyes.

"You want the truth?" he asked. The girl nodded in response.  
>"My name's Riley Bogard. I saw you two days ago here on the beach while I was walking back to my dorm. I was just curious to why you're here, and from what I can speculate, you're here pretty often." the girl narrowed her eyes before shedding some light on his curiosity.<p>

"I come here so I can be alone and meditate on the events of the day." she turned her back to him, "It clears my mind." Riley softened his expression.

"So, I told you my name. How about yours?" she quickly bolted around in his direction again.

"No, I'm going to have you fight to know my name. A fair price for you stalking me for the past two days." Riley was taken aback at her challenge.

"So what, like a duel or something?" A smile formed on her face.

"Yes, and the stakes are: if you win, I tell you my name, but if you lose... hmm..." the girl tossed the branch aside and stroked her chin. Riley, who was standing in silence, was a bit nervous to what he would have to do if she won. Riley then saw her expression change from thought to wicked.

"If I win, you must treat me to a meal here on the island, no exceptions," she smiled while staring back at Riley. Riley simply shrugged and returned a mischievous grin.

"Challenge accepted, let's rock and roll."

* * *

><p>?: 4000 Riley: 4000

"Since I was the victim of your stalking, I'll go first," the girl chuckled as she drew her first card.

"Fine by me," Riley sternly replied.

"I summon Dunames Dark Witch (ATK:1800/ DEF:1050) in attack mode!" A witch with white wings emerged from the sand, ready for battle.  
>"With cards face-down, I end my turn."<p>

"Ha," Riley laughed as he drew his first card.  
>"I summon Paladin of the Cursed Dragon in attack mode, now attack that witch!" With one swipe of its sword, the Paladin ended the witch's time on the field.<p>

?: 3900/ Riley: 4000

"I'll put a card face-down and end," Riley finished his turn, but the girl laughed as she drew her next card.

"I activate Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards, but as a drawback, I must discard two," the girl drew her three cards and carefully chose which two to send to the graveyard.

"You might wanna be careful to what you send to the graveyard. Remember, zombies rule the graveyard," Riley smirked.

"Oh, I know quite well to what zombies are capable of," the girl replied.  
>"That's why I send Marie the Fallen One (ATK:1700 DEF:1200) and Dark Rabbit (ATK:1100/ DEF:1500) to the graveyard. Now I summon Fire Princess (ATK:1300/ DEF:1500) in attack mode and equip her with Axe of Despair, which gives her a one-thousand attack point boost (ATK:2300/ DEF:1500)!" Riley took two steps back, not expecting the sudden power boost, which was obviously stronger than his paladin.

"Now, Princess, attack Paladin!" the girl commanded as a burst of fire burned Riley's Paladin to ash.

?: 3900/ Riley: 3600

"By setting one card face-down, I end my turn."

Riley picked up the next card in his deck.

"I put one card in face-down defense mode and end my turn."

"You don't think I watch you duel?" the girl asked with a wicked grin on her face.  
>"It is so obvious that card is a Pyramid Turtle."<p>

Riley blinked twice due to not expecting that she knew his strategy, but he shrugged it off as he already knows that his strategy is widely recognized school-wide.

"Bravo, you know what so many people already do," Riley replied sarcastically.  
>"But nevertheless, I end my turn."<p>

The girl drew her next card but after she added the card to her hand, a pool of light rose from under her. Soon after that, the pool shot a beam that struck Riley in the chest.

"What the hell was that?" Riley winced, clutching his chest to ease the sharp pain.

"Because Marie the Fallen One is in my graveyard, I gain two-hundred life points for each of my standby phases."

?: 4100/ Riley: 3600

"And because Fire Princess is on the field, for every time I gain life points, you take five-hundred damage" the girl explained the sudden light show.

?: 4100/ Riley: 3100

"Now, I summon Giant Orc (ATK: 2200/ DEF: 0) in attack mode!" she shouted as a massive goblin, wielding a thick, wooden club rose from the sand.  
>"Okay my Orc, attack his pitiful face-down!" she commanded as the monster slammed its club onto the card, revealing a classic Pyramid Turtle."<p>

"Ha! If you knew it was a Pyramid Turtle, why would you attack it?" Riley laughed as he searched through his deck for his card to summon through his turtle's effect.  
>"I special summon Il Blud (ATK: 2100 DEF: 800) in attack mode!" Riley announced as a grotesque monster, with a disturbing face partially zipped up in its chest rose out from the beach.

"I don't see why you summoned that, as it still isn't strong enough to defeat my princess," the girl pointed out.  
>"Attack that monstrosity!"<p>

As Fire Princess prepared for an attack, both her and the girl's Orc were destroyed simultaneously.

"What!" the girl was confused as to why both of her cards were eliminated.

"You just gotta love Mirror Force, don't cha'?" Riley smirked while placing the iconic trap card into his graveyard.  
>"Now, a clear field for you, and a 'monstrosity' on mine, let's see who has the advantage."<p>

"Grr... you'll pay for that!" she shouted at him, only to get another smirk from him in response.  
>"Turn end."<p>

"Good, so first of all, because Il Blud is a Gemini Monster, I must summon him again in order to gain his effect," Riley explained.  
>"Now with Il Blud's effect, I can special summon a Zombie-type monster from either my hand or both yours and my graveyards." The girl took a few steps back, slightly afraid of what his plan is.<p>

"I'll special summon Vampire Lord in attack mode!" Riley cried, as his signature monster emerged from the zipped-up face of Il Blud.  
>"Now Il Blud and Vampire Lord! Attack her directly, ending this duel."<p>

"I discard Kuriboh to make Vampire Lord's attack damage zero!" she quickly reacted, barely saving herself.

?: 2000/ Riley: 3100

"You're really lucky with that Kuriboh of yours." Riley commented.  
>"Nevertheless, I end my turn."<p>

"Okay, I draw!" she announced as she picked up her next card.  
>"Of course I gain 200 for Marie in the graveyard."<p>

?: 2200/ Riley: 3100

She flashed a wicked grin at Riley before activating the card she drew.  
>"I activate Polymerization! Now, by sending The Forgiving Maiden (ATK: 850 DEF: 2000) and my second Marie the Fallen one to summon St. Joan (ATK: 2800/ DEF: 2000)!" A female knight rose from the portal created by Polymerization and unsheathed he sword.  
>"Now, I summon Hoshiningen (ATK: 500 DEF: 700) in attack mode, and his effect allows all Light-attribute monsters a five-hundred attack point boost (St. Joan - ATK: 3300, Hoshiningen - ATK: 1000), but also reducing all Dark-attribute monsters by four-hundred (Vampire Lord - ATK: 1600, Il Blud - ATK: 1700)!"

Riley stepped back after seeing his monsters losing their power, only to be dwarfed by the girl's powerful saint. Although she clearly overpowered him, she still wasn't finished.  
>"I activate my face-down, Gift of the Mystical Elf! This card increases my life points by three-hundred for each monster on the field, because there is four, I gain twelve-hundred in total!"<p>

?: 3400/ Riley: 3100

"Okay Joan, attack his Il Blud! Make sure he cannot summon any zombies!" the girl commanded as her monster speared through the helpless creature.

?: 3400/ Riley: 1500

Riley covered his face, shielding him from the shards that were originally his monster. He put his arms down and placed his fallen monster into his graveyard. Glancing down to his hand he saw nothing he could use.

_"Zombie Master and Zombie World. Argh... I can't do shit right now." _he thought of his options.  
>"So, are you done yet?"<p>

"I believe I am, since I have no cards in my hand," she replied, with slight venom in her tone.

"Good, now I can finally draw!" Riley cried as he drew, what was most likely his final card. When he saw the card, his expression changed from defeat to ecstatic. He smiled widely as he knew what to do.

"Well, first of all, I summon Zombie Master in attack mode!" the girl was wondering his strategy and reminded him of Hoshiningen's effect.  
>"Remember, his attack is four-hundred points lower." (Zombie Master - ATK: 1400)<p>

"I'm well aware of that, I just need him for this. I activate Zombie World!" he shouted as the beach became a familiar world of death.  
>"Now <strong>all<strong> monsters on the field are Zombie type."

The girl was shocked to see her monsters turn into rotting corpses of their original forms. Shaking it off, she knew her monsters were still more powerful.  
>"What are you playing at?"<p>

"Oh, you'll see," Riley baited the already irritated girl.  
>"So, two zombies on my field, oh what can I do?" he playfully asked out loud, irritating his opponent even more.<p>

"Would you just hurry!"

"Oh, please be patient. So, two zombies on my field, now I can do this," Riley slapped his final card onto the disk.  
>"I special summon Kasha (ATK: ? DEF: 1000) in attack mode!"

The girl saw a wall of flames generate between Riley's two monsters, and from that wall emerged a demonic carriage with a sinister face and flaming wheels. She had never seen any monster like this before, and it made her feel a tidbit of fear.

"Because Kasha was summoned successfully, all monsters on the field return to their owners deck!" Riley explained as he picked up his two zombies. The girl followed, returning her Joan to the extra deck and Hoshiningen to the main.

"I'm still not done. Kasha's last effect allows him to gain one-thousand attack points for each card returned by his effect, and because of Zombie World, all monsters were zombie-type giving Kasha a grand total of 4000!"

The girl eyes widened when she saw the attack skyrocket. Knowing her fate, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for what comes next.

"Now Kasha! Attack her directly!" Riley commanded as the demon carriage charged straight through her, reducing all of her life points to zero.

?: 0/ Riley: 1500

* * *

><p>The girl dropped to her knees in defeat, her head facing the cool sand of the nightly beach. Riley deactivated his disk and walked towards her. Hearing his footsteps get closer, she tensed up her body, preparing for an expected barrage of insults and laughter. Ready to retaliate, Riley did something she didn't expect would come from a person she thought he was.<p>

"Hey," Riley kneeled down to her height and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
>"You know, its been awhile since I've pulled out of a corner like, and it's also been awhile since there's been a duel I've truly enjoyed."<p>

She looked up to meet his gaze, and saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

"You know Riley, my first impression of you was that you were an arrogant jerk that didn't care for the privacy of others," she confessed. Riley let out a small laugh.  
>"I get that a lot."<p>

"But now its obvious that I was wrong," she quickly stood up.  
>"You may be a hot-head, and I greatly don't care for hot-heads, you have a kind heart."<p>

"Hey! I am not a hot-head!" Riley, thus proving her point, rose up and stared her in the eyes.

"Exactly," she laughed as she turned around to head, which was probably her dorm. Riley, started to fume, but instantly calmed down when he remembered their wager.

"You know, I still never got your name. Plus, I did win the duel," he said while crossing his arms. The girl stopped in her tracks.

"Twila. Twila Rise."

"Okay, Twila," Riley repeated her name.  
>"You know, it is only 9:00, why don't I hold up my end of the bargain and take us out for something, my treat."<p>

She looked back to see that he was completely serious.

"After all, I should since I 'stalked' you for two days," he jokingly added, making aerial quotations with his fingers on the word 'stalking'. Twila looked back in the other direction. Riley, believing she has rejected his offer was a bit saddened.  
>"I understand if you do-"<p>

He was suddenly interrupted by a loud laughter from Twila.

"You know Hot-Head, which is what I will call you from now on, you're pretty sweet. I accept," she walked back up to him and gave him a friendly hug.

"I don't really appreciate the nickname, but what the hell, I'm starved. Let's go," he replied in his usual manner as he began to walk back to the main section of the island, with Twila right behind him. Although their meeting was a bit extreme, and Twila's genuine dislike for 'hot-heads' like Riley, it was a first step in a good friendship.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh. My. God. I thought I would never finish this damn chapter! With school and a ridiculous laptop, I was seriously contemplating putting this thing on hiatus, but a special thanks to Faith Princeton for the character, Twila, and your support in this entire chapter, because if it wasn't for you, I would've most likely put the fic into hiatus. So thanks for reading and all of the OC's, which the ones I chose will make an appearance eventually. So stay tuned for Chapter 8, which I hope will come sooner than this one.<strong>


	8. A True Rival

**Hey all! Back for another awesome chapter of A New Adventure? Of course you are XD Jkjk.**

**Quick recap: Zachary has arrived in South Honors Duel Academy, pushing through courses while meeting awesome new friends along the way. Zachary has had a many eventful duels, such as a double duel with the Montgomery twins and his first loss with the Dean of South Honors, Professor Romero's twin brother. His best friend Riley, originally arch-rival (due to repeated losses and triumph over the twins, they made-up), last chapter had a close encounter with a mysterious Italian student named Twila Rise. After a grueling duel and Riley patching things up between the two, they headed off to grab a bite to eat.**

**Now without further adieu , I present Chapter 8. (Oh yeah, since I introduced Nicholas, I will be using Romero's first name Isaac when narrating, but the main characters will still refer to him as Romero ;D just to avoid confusing you guys)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: A True Rival<br>**

It was roughly eleven at night as Riley made his way back to the dorm after enjoying a duel, followed by a dinner with his new friend Twila Rise. He was flashing his arrogant smirk as he remembered the evening so vividly, mainly the dinner afterwards.

_Flashback:_

_"You know Riley, you didn't have to do this," Twila laughed as she stepped through the door of one of the few, yet lavish on-island restaurants._ _Riley merely chuckled at her sentence while entering behind her._

_"I know, but like I said, I owe you one for following you around for two days."_

_"You mean stalking, Hot-Head?" Twila responded using his new, self-appointed by her, nickname. Riley scowled to the name, which made her laugh even more._

_"Just... Table for two please," Riley didn't bother arguing with her and just proceeded to ask the host for a table. Looking around, he noticed that the restaurant was fairly busy at this time of night, which was roughly nine-thirty. The pair sat down at their candlelit table, Riley immediately grabbing the menu closest to him. While scanning over the menu, he noticed Twila was staring at him._

_"What is it?" he grumbled, which amused Twila._

_"Nothing, it's just funny how you can go from being so gentleman-like to such an oaf. I was right to call you Hot-Head," she laughed out loud, much to Riley's chagrin. Riley merely sighed in response, knowing she was right, but he gave her a gentle smile before laughing along with her. _

_End Flashback_

"I swear, what am I gonna do with her?" Riley asked himself while returning to the present. The rest of the dinner was quite enjoyable in Riley's opinion and after they had finished their meal he agreed to walk her back to her dorm. Riley shook his head and noticed he was back at his own dorm. While searching for his key to open the locked door, he heard the television echoing from the inside. Hoping Zachary wasn't awake, he slowly pushed the door open and using the noise to his advantage quickly entered his dorm, only to see Zachary sleeping on the couch. He chuckled at his friend's sleeping form before carefully walking towards his room to get a good night sleep, finally concluding his long night. Although the night was over for Riley, it was still alive for someone else.

* * *

><p>"Finally, the last of the exams are graded and ready to be handed back to the students," sighed an exhausted Romero, cupping his face into his hands, trying to keep himself awake for a little bit longer for him to clean up the mess of papers he had made. As he was organizing his student's exams and cleaning up the desk he had been working on, an audible ringing entered his ears. Turning to see that his phone was ringing, he grabbed it to see the Caller I.D. Seeing as it was his brother, he was quite hesitant to answer, but did so anyway as his brother would only call him this late at night if it were something urgent. Opening his phone, he placed it to his ear and answered.<p>

"What is it Nicholas?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

_"Hey Isaac, I was just wondering if you were free tomorrow. You know, it being Saturday and all," _Nicholas said over the phone. Isaac's eyes widened, then he turned to the exams he had just graded and cursed himself.

_'I can't believe I forgot today was Friday,' _he thought to himself while rubbing his face in his hand.

_"Hello? Isaac are you still there?" _Nicholas asked as his brother was silent for quite some time.

"Yeah, I'm here," he responded to his brother's relief.

_"Oh good, I thought you hung up on me," _Nicholas laughed.

"I'm kinda debating whether or not I should," Isaac answered rather coldly.  
>"Well, if your still wondering, yes I'm free tomorrow."<p>

_"Okay, that's great, because I need someone to tour around the new transfers," _Nicholas explained. Isaac agreed, as he knew that the first two months of the school year were always hectic with transfer students.  
><em>"Let me remind you that Laura Stevenson's replacement for Duel Monster's history will be arriving also, so be sure to give her a warm welcome."<em>

_'That's right, Laura retired after thirty years of excellent teaching,' _Isaac thought while listening to his brother.  
>"Is that it?"<p>

_"That's it, the ship arrives here at 10:00 a.m. sharp, so please don't forget," _Nicholas emphasized the last part by slightly straining his voice. Isaac merely laughed at his comment.

"I won't Nick."

_"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then bro. Good night."_

"Good night," Isaac shut his phone and went back to organize his papers. Once he finished he changed from his day clothes into his night attire and entered his bed. Staring into the ceiling of his room, he pondered on who has the skill to replace Laura at her subject. He brushed off that thought and closed his eyes, only to open them minutes later.

"Great, now I can't sleep!"

* * *

><p>Saturday's morning sun shone on the docks of South Honors' harbor, where an exhausted Isaac and cheery Nicholas stood awaiting the arrival of the ship that carried the new transfer students. Isaac yawned as he lacked sleep from the previous night, only to have Nicholas nudge his arm.<p>

"Wake up sleepy head, the ship will be here any minute now," Nicholas told his brother. Isaac looked at his watch and read 9:50.

"I just want to get this over with," Isaac yawned again. At about two minutes later the ship can be seen at the horizon, speeding quickly towards the harbor.

"See, there they are," Nicholas pointed out. "Now put up a smile and let us give these students a good old-fashioned South Honors welcome." Isaac sighed before agreeing with his brother, and smiled in preparation for the new arrivals.

* * *

><p>On the bow of the ship stood a beautiful woman who was somewhere in her twenties. Her flowing black locks reflecting the sunlight that hit them, as if it was a mirror made of polished obsidian. She was dressed in a white jacket and matching white pants. Her black eyes that were of the same shine and tone of here hair stared out towards the school, eager to begin teaching the fresh minds that were attending.<p>

_"Attention to all, the ship will be docking very soon. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the cruise," _the captain said over the intercom. The woman stepped back into the ship to get ready to exit the ship.

"Darren, get ready we'll be docking soon," she called out. On one of the many sofas in the main area of the ship, sat a teenager, who also had black hair and eyes, wearing the same color clothes as his mother that was calling him. He was staring at his silver pocket-watch before clicking it shut and rising from his seat.

"Yeah, mom, I'm ready," he said with a bored tone in his voice.

"Please Darren, at least show _some_ eagerness to attend this school. It is one of the best in the world after all," his mother did her best to encourage her son.

"Mom, I'm so much better than than everyone else that I've dueled," he stated bluntly.

"You have to stop with that 'I'm so much better than everyone', it does anger some people," his mom replied to is comment.

"They get angry because they know its true," Darren finished before walking off towards the exit. His mother just looked towards her son and sighed before following him off the ship, which had just docked a moment ago.

As they were making their way off the dock, they, along with the others were greeted by none other than the the Romero twins.

"Good morning all, and welcome to South Honors Duel Academy!" Nicholas greeted in his normal, cheery way. Isaac approached from behind him and continued the greeting.

"Yes, we are all thrilled to have you attend our school. Remember, you are lucky among other duel academy students because your skills prove that you are able to attend one of the greatest institutions of all Duel Monsters. Although life here will be lavish, the classes will be rigorous and challenging." Nicholas laughed at the last part.

"He's not kidding, I sat in on one of his lessons and my Lord. It takes a special teacher to make me struggle in a Duel Monsters subject."

The new students laughed at Nicholas' story, most of the had already taken a liking to him, much to Isaac's chagrin.

"Oh c'mon, you can't possibly tell me you already like this fool?" Isaac laughed, only to make his brother break into laughter even more so than he already was. Isaac used the moment of laughter to take a good look at the new students he will be teaching. While scanning the group he noticed a woman in white with beautiful black hair and eyes giggling at him. He took in her appearance for a moment before being broken from the trance by his brother grabbing his shoulder.

"Anyway Isaac, we should tell them where two go to get their dorm keys and uniforms."

"Oh yes, you will find all of those in the main building's lobby. You are all about two months behind schedule but we'll manage with that. I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here and with that you are dismissed," Isaac finished. The students clamored towards the building all of them eager to get their dorm keys and uniforms for their first day at the Academy. All, except for one. Isaac turned back to see a teenager standing next to the woman he saw giggling earlier. Nicholas was already there talking with her, and he turned towards Isaac and motioned for him to join them. Isaac walked up towards the trio and greeted them with a smile.

"Isaac, this is Yukari Tanaka. She is the Duel Monsters History replacement for Laura," Nicholas explained.

"Ah, yes. We've been expecting you, so I hope you enjoyed the cruise here," Isaac casually said.

"Yes, it was quite enjoyable," she replied. Yukari then turned to her son who was standing roughly three feet away from them, his arms crossed and facing the other direction.  
>"Darren, come here and meet your new professors."<p>

Darren sighed as he walked towards the twins and with a bored expression on his face greeted them with a bow.

"I'm pleased to meet you two, and I look forward to perfecting my skills here at this school."

_'Not that I need to perfect them,' _he thought before taking his place back with his mother.

"Well go on ahead Darren, get your uniforms and dorm key so we can get settled in," Yukari instructed. As soon as he began to walk towards the main building, Isaac interrupted.

"That won't be necessary," Yukari and Darren looked at him with puzzled expressions. Nicholas continued to clarify.

"Since you are of the faculty, you are given your own condominium here on the island. Of course Darren will be staying there as well," Nicholas finished with a smile on his face. Yukari was surprised to hear this, but then smiled at the two. Darren even gave a small grin, which took a trained eye to see, but was there.

_"That's exactly what my skills deserve," _he thought to himself. Isaac then spoke again.

"Now, with all the greetings finished, let me show you to where you will be staying."

* * *

><p>At about 2:00 later that day, sitting at a table in the school's quad were Zachary and the gang. The main subject that was being talked about was Riley's interactions with Twila.<p>

"So, Clare," Zachary smirked while turning to face her. Clare looked back at him with the same look before allowing him to continue.  
>"Who do you think wears the pants?" The group laughed at his question, only to cause Riley's blood to boil.<p>

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Riley shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What do you think? Who's more dominant? You or her?" Cascade teased.

"WERE NOT EVEN DATING!" he shouted even louder this time only to make the group laugh harder.

"Oh c'mon Ry, were just messin'," Lisa giggled.

"I know, and I thought you had the hots for Kira," Clare blurted out, causing both Kira and Riley to blush furiously.

"I didn't hear anything," Kira said facing the opposite direction still blushing at Clare's statement. Riley put his face into his hands, and shook his head.

_"What am I gonna do with you guys?"_ he asked mentally.

"THE NERVE OF THIS SCHOOL!" a different voice shouted causing the group, who was sitting not far from the source of the voice, to turn their heads towards a student they have never seen before. He was wearing all white with black hair and eyes, but his eyes showed great amounts of anger.

"THEY DARE PLACE ME INTO THE LOWEST RANK OF THIS INSTITUTION. MY SKILLS DO NOT DESERVE THIS!" the group noticed that he was shouting at a woman wearing matching colors.

"Darren, it's the school's policy that you start at the lowest and work your way to the top," he tried to calm him, "With your techniques, I'm sure you'll get there in no time."

"I do not need to work for it if I deserve it!" his voice was lower but was still quite audible. Zachary was puzzled by who this student was.

"Hey, who is this guy?" he asked the group around him.

"No idea, but he's got some serious rich boy problems," Lisa huffed.

"I know, I mean did you see the way he was yelling at that poor woman?" Cascade asked sympathetic for the woman he was shouting at.

"I think that woman is his mother, I mean he shares so many resemblances to her," Kira pointed out.

"He's yelling at his mom like that? My brother Rodney's an asshole, but even he doesn't yell at our mom like that," Riley compared.

"Well he'll be put in his place, right Zach?" Clare slapped the unsuspecting teen on the back.

"Wait what? I don't want anything to do with that guy," Zachary countered. The student and woman by then had disappeared from the quad. The group then thought that it was time to go see the Romero twins and see if they can find out more about these two people they saw.

* * *

><p>Arriving at Isaac's condo, the group of students knocked on his door.<p>

"Who is it?" they heard a familiar voice answer from the inside.

"It's us professor," Zachary replied in his usual polite tone. They heard Isaac say something else but none of them could decipher what he had said and simply shrugged it off. The door then opened up as Isaac welcomed the students into his home.

"Hey there teach," Riley greeted. The rest followed in greeting him as well.

"Well hello to all of you as well, sorry for not visiting with you today," Isaac apologized, "Today has been busy."

"Oh right! The new transfers came in today," Cascade remembered.

"Precisely, and I've been at the docks all morning greeting them," Isaac replied.

"So where's your brother," Lisa asked looking around seeing if she can find the twin.

"He is still giving tours to students, he'll probably be unavailable for the rest of the day," Isaac answered her question, only to receive a groan from her and Clare in response.

"What? Am I not good enough for you two?" Isaac asked with a smile on his face, causing the group to laugh.

"No, your cool Teach," Riley answered. Isaac laughed and offered the group to sit, to which they obliged.

"So, what brings you here on a Saturday afternoon?" Isaac asked.

"Well, we wanted to know if _you_ know anything about this student we all saw earlier," Cascade clarified. Isaac put his hand to his mouth in thought. He was silent for a moment before speaking.

"By any chance, did this student have black hair and eyes? Also was he wearing all white?" he asked. The group was astounded as to how he matched the description of the student in question.

"Yes he did," Kira answered.

"How did you know Professor?" Zachary questioned.

"He was one of the students I met this morning, but you're probably wondering as to how I narrowed it down someone so specific," Isaac suggested. The teenagers nodded in response.

"As I suspected. Anyway, I noticed that his personality was unlike any of the other students that had arrived. His seemed so bored and unenthusiastic. He was the only one that I could think of that would catch all of your attention," Isaac explained. The group exchanged looks with one another before going back to Isaac.

"Also, he was shouting quite angrily at this woman we saw with him. Kira suggested that was his mother," Cascade spoke.

"Well, Kira was right, that was his mother. She is-" he was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Now who might that be?" Isaac asked aloud as he walked over to answer the door. When he opened it, he was greeted by, coincidentally, Yukari. She was accompanied by Darren, who had his arms crossed and was staring into the horizon, a stern look stamped on his face.

"Hello Isaac," Yukari greeted.

"Oh hi Yukari, I wasn't expecting you," Isaac said with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry for dropping by so suddenly, but I wanted to thank you for this morning. You truly made me feel welcome to the Academy," Yukari explained her reason for being there.

"It was no problem," Isaac replied smiling. The group inside heard the audible conversation and accompanied Isaac at the door. Yukari noticed all the teens.

"Oh, I see you have company," she greeted them all with a smile.

"Yes, these are students that I have grown quite close to," Isaac turned to the students.

"All, this is Professor Yukari Tanaka. She is the replacement for Professor Laura Stevenson for Duel Monster's History."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Yukari bowed.

"Likewise," the group said simultaneously and returned the gesture.

"My, they are all so polite," Yukari acknowledged the group's greeting.

"Yes we are," Riley smirked, only to have Clare smack him behind the head. The group along with Isaac and Yukari laughed.

"Well, most of them are," Isaac said sarcastically. Darren huffed to this and turned his attention back to the sea.

"So, you are teaching Duel Monster's History," Kira asked curiously.

"Yes, and I am so eager to start on Monday," Yukari smiled again. Isaac noticed Darren was not interacting with them and attempted to bring him into the conversation.

"So Darren, are you as excited as your mother to start on Monday?" Darren turned to face them.

"Ecstatic," he stated emotionless, maintaining his stature and stern expression on his face. Yukari dipped her head down, her hair covered her eyes. Zachary took notice of this and looked towards Darren.

"Hey, Darren. I'm Zachary Curtis. Nice to meet you," he held out a hand, but Darren turned his head back towards the scenery.

"Yo Darren!" Riley shouted. Darren jerked his head back towards him.

"What!"

"He just introduced himself to you and you ignored him. What the hell?" Riley continued. Darren huffed again and proceeded to leave Isaac's home.

"I don't interact with those I don't find worthy," he stated bluntly. Yukari reached her hand towards her son.

"Darren, please," she pleaded. It was no avail, he continued to walk off ignoring anyone that talked to him. Yukari was hurt, and held her hands to her chest. She was desperately trying to hold back tears in front of the people she had just met, not wanting them to think she was insecure. Isaac knew she was bottling it up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised, but accepted the gesture.

"What the hell's his problem?" Clare asked aloud.

"I know, you didn't deserve that," Cascade turned towards Yukari.

"Please excuse his behavior. It has been really difficult for him and I after my husband left," Yukari cupped her mouth.  
>"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting this onto all of you. She tried to leave, but Isaac kept his hand on her.<p>

"It's alright, you're not burdening any of us. Am I right?" Isaac asked the group. They nodded in agreement.

"Thank you all, you are all so kind," Yukari choked out. Zachary couldn't take much more of this, and suddenly sped off towards Darren.

"Zach!" Riley called out after him.

"What's gotten into him?" Cascade asked before the group followed behind him. Yukari and Isaac proceeded to chase after them as well.

When Zachary had caught up to him, Darren was still walking away.

"So, you think you're all high and mighty?" Zachary asked, causing Darren to stop in his tracks. He turned around and met Zachary's angry gaze, which only made him chuckle.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he smugly replied.

"Fine, then let's put your skills to the test," Zachary suggested as he activated his duel disk. Darren closed eyes and smiled darkly before he opened a box latched onto his belt. From the box he pulled out a small rectangular pad. He fastened the pad onto his arm and it unfolded into duel disk.

"Duel pads are so much more convenient," Darren spoke.  
>"Anyway, let's duel."<p>

* * *

><p>Zachary: 4000 Darren: 4000

"C'mon Zach! Put him in his place!" Riley shouted from the side. Yukari looked at Riley, although she didn't want a conflict to start between her son and students she had just met and grown a liking to, she did want someone to beat her son and prove that he isn't always the strongest. Isaac turned to her.

"Are you alright?" Yukari looked back at him.

"Yes, I just don't want any conflicts to start between Darren and students."

"Well, to be honest, I think he just created one," Isaac identified.

"I know, that's why I am so concerned," she answered. Isaac gave her one last look of confidence and they turned back to the duelists.

"I'll start!" Darren drew his first card. Looking at his hand, he smirked.  
>"I'll set two cards and place one monster in face-down defense mode! I end my turn."<p>

"Okay, draw!" Zachary announced.  
>"I activate Geartown!" As soon as he placed the spell into the field zone, massive buildings composed of gears rose from the earth.<p>

"With Geartown on the field, I can normal summon Ancient Gear monsters with one less tribute!" Zachary explained.  
>"So with that, I summon the level five Ancient Gear Engineer (ATK:1500 DEF:1500) in attack mode!"

A large robot emerged from the ground, wielding a powerful drill on its right hand.

"I'll equip him with Ancient Gear Tank, which gives him a six-hundred attack point boost (ATK: 2100)! So Engineer, attack that face-down," Zachary commanded. His monster charged into the set card and speared its drill into it. A monkey in armor revealed itself before being shattered to pieces.

"Since Engineer attacked, I get to destroy one of your Spell or Trap cards! So, I'll destroy the one on the right," The set card lifted and shattered, revealing a deadly Mirror Force. Darren laughed in response.

"It's good you destroyed it, against your monsters, that card is useless. By the way, you destroyed my Shien's Footsoldier (ATK: 700/ DEF: 300), which allows me to special summon one level three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck," Darren explained as he searched his deck.

"What!" Isaac shouted.  
>"He's using the Six Samurai!"<p>

The group looked towards him, confused of his sudden outburst.

"What's so bad-" Lisa began.

"-about that?" Clare finished. Isaac had a concerned look in his eyes.

"Those are one of the most powerful archetypes in the world! How on earth did he obtain them?" Isaac asked aloud. Yukari knew the answer to his question but decided to remain quiet, she felt that it wasn't right for her to reveal how her son acquired the deck. Isaac relaxed and they refocused back to the duel.

"I'll summon The Six Samurai - Yariza (ATK: 1000/ DEF: 500) in attack mode!" A warrior clad in blue armor rose from the ground, wielding tethered blade.

"I set one card and end my turn," Zachary finished, unsure of the potential this new monster has.

"Good, I draw!" Looking at his hand, he smirked.  
>"I summon The Six Samurai - Yaichi (ATK: 1300 DEF: 800) in attack mode," Another warrior, clad in yellow armor wielding a bow and arrow took its place next to Yariza.

"Since I have another Six Samurai monster, I can activate Yaichi's effect. I'll destroy that Ancient Gear Tank," Darren commanded as Yaichi took aim and fired an arrow, shattering the tank from under the Engineer. Just before it was destroyed, the tank fired a round at Darren.

"Argh, what was that?" Darren asked, clutching his chest to ease the pain that was just shot through him.

"That's what happens when Ancient Gear Tank is destroyed, you take six-hundred points of damage," Zachary explained with a confident smile on his face.

Zachary: 4000/ Darren: 3600

"Wipe that smile off your face!" Darren growled.  
>"Yariza also has an effect that activates when another Samurai is on the field. He gets to attack directly!"<p>

Zachary's eyes widened when he saw Darren's monster leap over his Engineer and strike him down his chest. Zachary winced in pain but refocused.

Zachary: 3000/ Darren: 3400

"By setting one more face-down, I end my turn," Darren finished.

"Okay, my turn!" Zachary drew his next card.  
>"I summon Ancient Gear Beast (ATK: 2000 DEF: 2000) in attack mode!"

Rising next to his Engineer stood a tall, tiger looking robot.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but your pet is scrap metal," Darren mocked.  
>"I activate Bottomless Trap Hole! That mutt is banished!"<p>

Zachary witnessed his monster fall into a red pit, removing it from play. Zachary cursed and placed his fallen monster into his pocket.

"Engineer, attack Yaichi! Seeing that Yariza is powerless without another on the field, and Yaichi can destroy my Spell and Traps," Zachary explained his monster struck Yaichi with all its force.

Zachary: 3000/ Darren: 3200

To Zachary's surprise, he saw that Yariza was on the other side of the drill. This also surprised the group on the side.

"Wait, what the hell? I thought Yaichi was attacked," Riley identified.

"That doesn't make any sense that Yariza would be in place of him," Kira added.

"It does make sense," Isaac spoke. The group looked at him.  
>"You see, whenever a Six Samurai monster would be destroyed, another can be destroyed in its place."<p>

"So, when there's multiple of them on the field, their invincible," Cascade concluded.

"Exactly," Isaac stated and they turned their attention back to the duel. Darren was smiling darkly.

"The Samurais can destroy one another in place of itself." Zachary stepped back, seeing how powerful these monsters really can be. Zachary set one more card and ended his turn, unable to do anything more.

"Good, now my draw! First, I activate Six Style - Duel Wield. Because the only monster I control is Yaichi, I can return two cards you control to the hand." With one swift move, Zachary's Engineer and one of his face-downs were sent back, leaving him open for a direct attack.

"Now I summon The Six Samurai - Nisashi (ATK: 1400/ DEF: 700) in attack mode!" Another Samurai, this one in green carrying twin swords took its place next to Yaichi.

"First, I'll destroy Geartown to make sure you don't summon any more of your gears," Darren laughed as Yaichi fired an arrow at his Field Spell.

"Big mistake," Zachary smiled wide.  
>"By destroying Geartown, I get to special summon one Ancient Gear Monster from my hand, deck or graveyard. I choose to summon, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (ATK: 3000 DEF: 2000) in attack mode!"

Darren, for the first time, felt a hint of fear when he saw the massive cyborg dragon emerge from the destroyed city's remains. The group on the sides cheered for Zachary.

"All right Zach!" Riley shouted.

"Now he's got the upper hand," Cascade smiled. Even though the students were cheering, Isaac wasn't so sure that this duel has been decided and kept focusing on the current field.

_"How can he summon something so powerful!" _Darren thought before ending his turn, incapable of doing anything while Zachary has that dragon on his side.

"Sweet, my turn now!" Zachary drew his next card.  
>"Now Gadjiltron Dragon! Attack Yaichi! Mechanical Rampage!"<p>

The dragon fired a beam that obliterated Yaichi. Darren didn't feel the need to destroy Nisashi since Zachary didn't control any Spell or Trap cards.

Zachary: 3000/ Darren: 1500

"Ha! I activate Shien's scheme, which allows me to special summon up to two Six Samurai monsters in my hand," Darren compensated his monsters destruction by summoning two more in it's place.

"I summon The Six Samurai - Irou (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 1200) and The Six Samurai - Zanji (ATK: 1800/ DEF: 1300) in attack mode.

Respectively, a purple armored warrior accompanied with an orange armored warrior stood tall along with Nisashi. Zachary ended his turn, using his monster's massive attack power as protection. Darren drew his card, and looked towards Zachary.

"This duel is over," Darren said darkly. Zachary flinched in response.

"I activate Book of Moon!" Darren placed his card onto the disk. Emerging from the field was a blue book with Egyptian markings on it.

"Book of Moon targets one face-up monster on the field and changes it to face-down defense position," Darren explained.

"Okay, but my Dragon's defense is stronger than all your monster's attack," Zachary countered.

"True, but Irou's effect say otherwise," Darren continued. Zachary's eyes widened.

"When there's another Six Samurai monster is on the field and Irou attacks a face-down defense position monster, it is destroyed immediately by his effect. No damage at all." The group watching gasped.

"Oh no," Cascade breathed out.

"Shit, Zach's done for," Riley concluded.

"Now Irou! Attack his face-down dragon!" As Irou plunged its sword into the face-down, the card was shattered. Zachary was completely open.

"Zanji, Nisashi, finish him off!" Zachary was struck by both of his monsters, depleting his life points.

Zachary: 0/ Darren: 1500

* * *

><p>Zachary fell to his knees defeated. This was his second loss here, but he wasn't sad about this one as he was more angry with himself. Darren folded back up his duel pad and stepped over to Zachary. Zachary looked up to see Darren standing over him.<p>

"Next time, _think_ before picking a fight with someone stronger than you," Darren hissed and walked off towards his and his mother's condominium. Zachary growled and turned to face him. Running up behind him was Riley and the others. Yukari helped Zachary up and brushed him off.

"I do sincerely apologize for him, like I said, it has been difficult for the both of us," she tried to reconcile with Zachary for her son's behavior. Zachary shook his head and smiled warmly.

"It's alright, it's just cruel as to how harsh he is towards everyone," he answered back.

"I understand, but I believe he will change for the better," Yukari gave her insight.

"I doubt it," Riley blurted out, only to get two hands to the back of his head from Lisa and Clare. Yukari giggled a bit. Isaac shook his head and smiled warmly.

"I agree with Yukari, these things take time. It is hard to grow up without a father. Trust me, Nicholas and I know first hand difficult it is."

Yukari gave a genuine smile after hearing that Isaac had a similar experience and her spirits lifted a bit.

"Well I must be going, I want to be as close to Darren as I can. Even though I don't approve of his outlook on others, he is my son and I will always love him more than anything else in the world," Yukari bowed the the group.

"I hope to see you all in my class Monday," and with that she walked off towards Darren, who was surprisingly waiting for her a few yards away. The mother and son both walked off towards their new temporary home on the island. Zachary gave one last inquisitive look towards Darren.

"So, Zachary," Isaac said from behind him.

"Yeah," he turned to face him.

"It looks like you have a formidable rival to worry about," Isaac smirked. Zachary laughed a bit.

"I know. I've got to get better and when I do, I'll take him down," Zachary closed his fist in determination of adding one more person on his list to defeat, a slot just under Nicholas. The group around him nodded in support for him.

"Anyway, I'm bored. I think I'm gonna hang with Twila for the rest of the day," Riley suggested only to get mischievous looks from everyone else.

"Ooh, some alone time eh?" Lisa teased. Zachary laughed.

"Actually, to be honest, I kinda want to meet her."

"Yeah, so do I," Cascade added.

"It would be nice to meet this girl," Kira said as well.

"Well that settles it then, were gonna go meet this Twila chick," Clare declared. Riley shrugged, but in the back of his mind was actually nervous about letting these guys meet Twila.

"Mind if I come along? I've got nothing else on my schedule today," Isaac asked, to which they all agreed.

"Well, let's get this over with then," Riley sighed before taking the lead to meet up with his new friend Twila.

While walking towards the black cloud dorms, Zachary couldn't help but think about Darren and his duel with him. He was astonished as to how quickly he made mincemeat of one of his strongest monsters. He continued to think about the subject until they stopped at a dorm, which is when he decided to put it off for now and enjoy another day with his friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew, this was by far the longest chapter yet! I do apologize that I didn't include Twila in person this time, I just couldn't find a way to incorporate her. But do not fear, she along with a bunch of others will make appearances in the future chapters.<strong>

**Anyway thank you all for your patience with this fic and a special thanks to Faith Princeton and RJsGurl for pushing me to keep going with this one. **

**Chapter 9 will be up soon! XD**


	9. Duel Personalities

**Hey**** all! I'm back with another exciting chapter for A New Adventure. I want to thank all those for reviewing and helping me push through this story. I think we're nearing the halfway point, because once all the OC's are in, the...**

***drum roll***

**VILLAIN(S) will finally come into play XD.**

**So sit back, relax and enjoy reading Chapter 9!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Duel Personalities<strong>

"Now Ancient Gear Golem (ATK: 3000/ DEF: 3000) finish this! Mechanized Melee!" The massive cyborg slammed its fist through the defending monster and into its owner, dropping his remaining life points to zero. The opposing student was knocked onto his back by the ensuing shockwave.

"Damn! What they say about you is true. You're one tough duelist my man!" the blonde student quickly picked himself up, dusted off his White Cloud jacket and approached his opponent. Zachary smiled, deactivated his duel disk and placed his deck into its case on his belt.

"Thanks," he replied gleefully.  
>"Just, can you keep this to yourself? I don't want the school clamoring around me for duels all day and all night." The student laughed to himself.<p>

"No prob, bro. To be honest though, you've already got pretty popular around here. I mean as far as I've seen, you haven't lost a duel yet." Zachary took a moment to reflect on the two duels he _had_ lost, both of them against opponents that were incredibly skilled.

"Well, anyway, I better start heading back," the student began, causing Zachary to break from his thoughts.  
>"Don't wanna keep the girlfriend waiting."<p>

Zachary chuckled. "Alright then, take it easy." The blonde boy nodded.

"You too, dude," And he began to walk back towards the school. Once Zachary lost sight of him, he turned his attention back to the ocean surrounding the island. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the sea water. He couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Zachary's mind was so focused on the beautiful scenery, he was completely unaware of footsteps approaching him from behind.

"You really like it out here don't you?" a familiar voice asked. Zachary, who kept his eyes closed, smiled to himself in agreement.

"Yeah. In New Domino City, there was no place to see just open ocean. All you would see was the Satellite or the other side of the city." He sighed with content.  
>"Plus, you can't get this smell either. All I would get there would be city stench and gasoline." He turned his face to meet the beautiful sapphire eyes of Cascade, who was smiling at his story.<p>

"It seems you don't like New Domino City all that much," Cascade giggled, taking her place beside him.

"No, I like the city. I just wish there was a better ocean view like this one," he laughed before looking back towards the ocean.

"I saw the whole duel you know," Cascade looked at him with a kind smile, the very sight making Zachary's cheek turn a light shade of pink.

"You did huh?" he turned his head quickly, trying not to make her notice his blush.

"Yep, from start to finish. You've got talent with those Gears of yours, Zach." This made him blush deeper.

"Well, I-I-I still have to get better with them," he stuttered, making Cascade giggle some more. Zachary shook his head, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

"You know, it's been about two months since we met that night the day I came here and I still haven't been able to see you duel," Zachary smiled mischievously and crossed his arms, turning to see her face. Cascade was caught off guard but laughed because he actually had a point, he had never seen her duel before.

"So?" Cascade responded with a smirk across her face.

"So?" Zachary repeated.  
>"How about you let me see the skill that allows you to wear that jacket?" he challenged. Cascade grinned widely.<p>

"Well, well. You've got some backbone challenging a White Cloud," she scoffed jokingly. Zachary smirked in response.

"If you can wear that jacket, your skills should reflect that," he countered, the two of them slowly walking backwards away from each other.

"You don't believe I deserve this color, eh?" Cascade asked, her grin getting wider.

"That's exactly what I believe," Zachary said as he opened up his deck box, ready for a duel.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS!" a loud voice shouted from a distance. Cascade and Zachary looked back towards the source of the voice, which belonged to none other than Riley Bogard, who was accompanied by Twila. Zachary groaned and placed his deck back into its box. Cascade did the same and approached Zachary.

'I guess you're gonna have to wait," she smirked, getting a laughing response from Zachary. Riley and Twila made their way to the two duelists and stopped in front of them.

"Great timing, Ry," Zachary chuckled. Riley looked at Twila who merely shrugged her arms as a response.

"What the hell are you talking about? I was on my way here with Twila and we saw you two here," Riley was confused by Zachary's meaning.

He shook his head, "Nevermind. So what are you guys doing here anyway?" Zachary asked out of curiosity.

"Well, Hothead here-"

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Riley fumed at his childish nickname. The three simply laughed at his outburst.

"You know, the more you keep telling me to stop, the more I'm just gonna call you that," Twila stated much to Riley's chagrin.  
>"Anyways, I ran into him while he was walking around the school so I just tagged along."<p>

"Aw, that's so cute!" Cascade teased, causing both Twila and Riley to blush furiously.

"THERE'S NOTHING GOING ON!" the two shouted in unison. Zachary and Cascade began to laugh harder.

"I wouldn't be talking. I mean you two, alone, on a beach? Sounds a little romantic to me," Riley countered. Now it was their turn to blush as Zachary began to look in all directions trying to avoid eye contact with Cascade who was looking up towards the sky while twirling some strands of hair.

"Thought so," Riley chuckled, causing the duo to give him matching death glares. Riley wasn't phased.

"So why were you two here in the first place?" Twila asked curiously.

"Well I was dueling someone. A White Cloud challenged me to a friendly duel," Zachary explained.

"Yeah, I was just passing by when I saw the two of them begin," Cascade continued with her part.

"...And Zachary won of course?" Riley asked, looking at Zachary with smirk.

"Yep, Ancient Gear Golem demolished," Cascade confirmed the outcome.

"Well since we're here, why don't we go meet up with the others?" Twila suggested. The group agreed and began to head back towards the school.

* * *

><p>When they reached the quad, they scanned the area looking for the others. Riley and Twila had said that Lisa, Clare and Kira were hanging out together in the area when they left. Continuing their search, Riley noticed a figure laying under one of the many trees in the quad. He wouldn't normally care about someone he would see around the school, but Riley noticed something familiar about him. He left the others to go see the slumbering student, who was wearing a Black Cloud jacket and his long black hair tied into a ponytail. Riley took a quick moment to think and then grinned mischievously.<p>

"HEY BREN!" he shouted, causing the slumbering student to jolt awake.

"What the hell?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes to clarify his vision.

"Yo, Earth to Bren," Riley mocked his sleepy friend.

"Bogard?" the student, known as Bren, finally acknowledged Riley's presence. His vision finally focused, seeing the black hair and eyes of the one that awoke him.

"The one and only," Riley stated, patting his chest with his fist.

"As far as I know, there's two of you," Bren yawned, a laugh breaking at the end.

"Well, this is the one that's not a dick," Riley responded, trying to get his brother's image out of his mind. Bren shook his head.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure the both of you were dicks," Bren laughed to himself.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Riley replied sarcastically. His attention soon turned to the footsteps that were coming up from behind him.

"Yo, Riley there you are," Zachary said with the rest of the group, including Lisa, Clare and Kira, in tow.

"Sorry Zach, just had to come and wake this lazy-ass," Riley explained jokingly while elbowing Bren.

"Ha-ha very funny, Bogard. So anyway, who are all these guys?" Bren smiled and looked towards the group of students in front of him. Riley took the liberty and introduce the student he had just abused.

"Well, the guy in front is Zach, the blue-haired girl next to him is Cascade, Twila is the honey haired one, the white-haired girl next to her is Kira, and the twins in back are Lisa and Clare." After he finished, Bren scanned the group before nodding.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Bren T. Hunter," he introduced himself.

"So, Riley," Clare began.

"How did you know someone besides us that can put up with you?" Lisa finished.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Riley shouted, making Bren cringe due to his booming voice.

"Calm your balls, Bogard," he slapped the boiling student on his back.  
>"If you're all wondering, Riley and I were roommates before his rank reduction at the beginning of the year." Zachary processed the explanation and noticed Bren's jacket, which was the Black Cloud rank.<p>

"You were roommates before?" he asked.  
>"Riley was a White Cloud before his rank was deducted."<p>

Bren shook his head.  
>"I was a White Cloud along with him, but not too long after he dropped in rank, so did I."<p>

"I was meaning to ask you about that. Why _are_ you a Black Cloud?" Riley asked curiously. Bren chuckled before speaking.

"Well like I said, I lost it not too long after you did. Being arrogant and stupid, I challenged a Black Cloud to an Arena Duel as a way to boost my inflated ego," he paused to chuckle some more.  
>"Long story short, he beat me."<p>

"Ouch, that really sucks," Cascade said.

"Its alright, I was stupid so I deserved it," Bren replied, starting to lean back against the tree he was sleeping under.

"I know what'll cheer you up," Riley spoke enthusiastically, catching everyone's attention.

"Oh?" Bren asked raising an eyebrow.

"How about a duel? You know for old times sake? I mean, we haven't dueled since the year started," Riley continued. Bren smiled but shook his head.

"I know you mean well, Bogard. Which is odd," Bren's last statement caused the others to chuckle, much to Riley's dismay.  
>"But I think I'll pass for now. Not really in the mood you know?"<p>

"Uh, I guess?" Riley didn't expect Bren to reject his offer as he usually would accept a challenge, especially if it was Riley he was challenging.

"Well I'm gonna head back to my dorm, it was nice to see you again Bogard," Bren spoke again. He turned to the others around him.  
>"It was a pleasure to meet you all."<p>

The group smiled and nodded in response, allowing Bren to take his leave back towards the Black Cloud dorms.

* * *

><p><strong>Later, about 10:00 p.m.<strong>

All was quiet on the South Honors grounds, as most of the students had fallen asleep for the the following Monday of classes. Among those slumbering students were Zachary, Riley, Cascade, Twila, Lisa, Clare and Kira; all of which had fallen fast asleep. For other students, a good night's rest escapes them. Unfortunately, Bren's night is still alive.

"Enough!" he shouted to himself. Bren was alone in his room in one of the lavish Black Cloud dorms.  
>"Stop trying to take over me or so help me I will tear you to pieces!"<p>

The object of Bren's fury was a card that was placed onto his desk. Bren, who was sitting in front of it, had his head buried in his hands as if trying to ease some sort of pain.

_"You cannot escape my influence," _a demonic voice whispered. Bren's eyes tightened, trying his best to stop the voice echoing in his psyche. Behind his sitting form an apparition of a doll's face with grotesque tentacles breaking through it had materialized. It ran a few of its tendrils up his back, towards the top of his neck, only to have Bren stand up in fury.

"GET YOUR FILTHY TENTACLES OFF OF ME!" he shouted, swatting the translucent being away from him.  
>"It's because of you that I lost my White Cloud rank, plus all the people you've made avoid me!"<p>

_"Why do you resist now when I have already had control of your mind?" _the spirit made its point, only angering Bren further.

"Because I was foolish to allow myself to think that you would help me!" Bren retorted.  
>"It's getting out of hand!"<p>

_"But I do help you. With me, your deck is so much deadlier for others to face. Why you're rejecting me after all of my services to you is foolish," _the spirit was instigating Bren more.

"My will is my own," Bren replied angrily.  
>"I will not have some Duel Spirit like you take it over."<p>

_"Too late," _the spirit hissed before quickly phasing itself into Bren. He winced and groaned in pain, clutching his chest trying his hardest to free himself from the spirit's grasp. After a brief struggle, Bren picked himself up off the floor of his bedroom. He faced the mirror and stared into his reflection. His deep brown eyes had been replaced with hollow-blue ones. Flashing a sinister smile to his reflection, he grabbed the card laying on his desk and inserted it into his deck.

"Let us see how long it will take to free yourself this time," he hissed in a tone that was much more sinister than Bren.

* * *

><p>In Strategy and Countering with Professor von Williams, Zachary lay with his head supported by his hand. This position was mimicked by Cascade who was sitting to his left, and to his right, Riley had his face buried in his arms once again. Lucky for Riley, the lunch bell rang just before the Professor had turned around from his lecture, allowing for him to leave the class along with Zachary and Cascade. The three went outside to the quad after enjoying their meal in the cafeteria. The others had decided to have some 'girl-time', asking if Cascade would join them, but she declined and decided to spend some time with Riley and Zachary.<p>

"You've been cutting it real close with Von Williams, you know that Ry?" Cascade smiled, acknowledging that Riley hasn't gotten into trouble lately for sleeping during his class.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he knows that I do it. He just stopped caring," Riley gave his opinion on the matter. Zachary and Cascade laughed at his comment, but it ended when Cascade was suddenly knocked to the ground by a passing student bumping into her. Her fall was hard and she landed directly on her back. Zachary quickly went down to her level to check on her.

"Hey, are you alright? That looked like it hurt," Zachary asked concerned. Cascade nodded, her eyes remain shut.

"It did, but I think I'll be fine," she answered, her hand on her back, attempting to ease the pain. Riley turned back to the student that had hit her.

"Hey asshole! Watch where you're going!" he shouted, catching the attention of other passing students. The student turned back, his flat-blue eyes narrowed.

"Why doesn't _she_ watch where she's going?" the student replied, a wicked smile across his face. Zachary had helped lift Cascade back onto her feet. He kept her supported with his arm around her shoulder, he then took a moment to look at the student that pushed her down.

"Bren?" he asked confused as to why he would do something like that to someone he had only met a day before.  
>"What's the matter with you?"<p>

"Hm?" Bren asked innocently.  
>"Nothing is the matter, I was just simply making my way to the next class and she just happened to be cross my path," an evil grin still as his expression. Riley was taken aback, while Zachary clenched his teeth.<p>

"Hey if you have a problem with us then say it, don't go hurting Cascade just because you feel like it," he defended his friend he was currently supporting. Bren began to chuckle evilly.

"I have no problem. Like I said before, _she was in my way_."

"Then we have a problem with you," Zachary retorted. Riley nodded in agreement.

"I don't know what the hell your problem Bren, but you've never acted this way before." Bren chuckled again.

"People change, Riley. Mine just happened to be... sudden." Zachary was getting very angry now.

"Fine, then let's settle this with a duel," he suggested.  
>"If I win, you have to apologize to Cascade and stay away from us."<p>

"That's fair, let's get this under way shall we?" Bren smirked, activating his duel disk.

"Let's," Zachary said, but before he can activate his disk and let his arm off of Cascade, she interrupted him.

"No Zach, I'll handle this," she freed herself from Zachary's support.  
>"I can fight my own battles." She smiled at him and stood up straight, activating her duel disk, which was blue and white in color with yellow lights shining from it. She placed her deck into the designated slot and met Bren's dark gaze. He grinned even more so and began to walk backwards away from her, giving them sufficient space in the open quad to duel.<p>

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Bren: 4000 Cascade: 4000

"Since you are the damsel in distress, you can start," Bren teased, causing Cascade to darken her expression and take the duel even more seriously.

"Fine," she replied, drawing her first card.  
>"I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh (ATK: 1900 DEF: 800) in attack mode!" she shouted as a blue clad being with two electric rings rose next to her.  
>"I end my turn."<p>

"Hm, a very strong monster you have there. Nonetheless, it won't stand a chance," Bren replied.  
>"I set one face-down monster and one face-down. I end my turn."<p>

Cascade drew her next card. "Thunder King, attack that face-down!" With two bolts of lightning, the monster obliterated the defending monster.

"Sorry, but you just attacked D.D. Warrior Lady (ATK: 1500/ DEF: 1600). With her effect, I'll banish both of them of play!" Cascade growled and placed her fallen monster into a special slot on her disk.

"Heh, this is great isn't it? A former White Cloud versus a current one," Bren sneered.  
>"This will be interesting indeed."<p>

Cascade shook her head and continued with her turn.  
>"I'll set one monster and end my turn."<p>

Bren then drew his next card.  
>"I activate Allure of Darkness!" Bren placed the spell card onto his disk.<br>"This card allows me to draw two cards, but I have to banish one Dark monster in order to keep my hand."

Cascade narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher his strategy. While she was focused on Bren's tactics, Zachary and Riley were discussing his deck.

"So he plays a banishing game, huh?" Zachary asked Riley. He nodded.

"Yeah, his is very deadly to most other decks because of that. He can easily get cards banished and shut down any deck that relies on a Graveyard." Zachary furrowed his brows and then realized what Riley meant.

"Riley?" his friend turned to him.  
>"Have you ever defeated Bren?"<p>

Riley sighed deeply and shook his head.  
>"His strategy tears my deck apart. With no graveyard, I have no chance."<p>

Zachary then turned his attention back to Cascade.  
><em>'I hope your deck can survive.'<em>

"So, what are you gonna banish?" she asked, waiting for Bren to resolve Allure's effect.

Bren smirked.  
>"I'll banish... <em>Necroface<em>!" Cascade stepped back when she heard the emphasis he had placed on the cards name.

"You don't know what I can-, I mean, what this card can do? Do you?" Cascade shook her head, but she wondered why Bren had corrected himself in the middle of his sentence.

"What does it do?"

"Necroface banishes the top five cards of both player's decks whenever he gets removed," Bren explained as he took his top five cards and placed them into his pocket. Cascade followed, placing her cards with her Thunder King.

_'If he keeps removing my cards from play, I won't be able to survive for too long,'_ she thought to herself.

"Now I summon D.D. Survivor (ATK: 1800/ DEF: 200) in attack mode!" A cloaked warrior rose from the field.  
>"Now attack that face-down!"<p>

The warrior struck the face-down, flipping it to reveal an insect-like being with a large backpack filed with charms. Cascade smiled when her monster was revealed.

"Thanks to your attack flipping my monster, my Magical Merchant's (ATK: 200/ DEF: 700) effect activates!" Bren wasn't phased.

"So, what does it do?"

"Once he has been flipped, I send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard until I get a spell or trap card," she explained as she began to mill her top cards. After three cards, she got a spell card.

"I add Reinforcement of the Army to my hand!"

"Whatever, I end my turn," Bren finished his turn and passed over to Cascade.

"I activate my Reinforcement to add Lightray Grepher (ATK: 1700/ DEF: 1600) to my hand!" Cascade added her warrior and placed the spell card into the graveyard.  
>"Now, I'll summon my Lightray Grepher in attack mode!" A warrior with white and blue armor emerged in front of her and drew his sword.<p>

"That monster still isn't powerful enough for D.D. Survivor, so I see no point in summoning it," Bren spat.

"I summoned him for his effect," Cascade replied.  
>"You see, once per turn I can discard one Light monster to banish another Light monster from my deck! So I'll discard Freed the Brave Wanderer (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1200) to banish my Lightray Diabolos (ATK: 2800/ DEF: 1000)! Now, by removing Freed in my graveyard from play, I can special summon Ghost Ship (ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1000) from my hand!"

Bren flinched slightly to see him faced with two monsters, one of which can overpower his D.D. Survivor.

"Okay Ghost Ship, attack his warrior!" The spirit vessel slammed itself into the cloaked warrior, sending it to the graveyard.  
>"Now Grepher, attack his life points!"<p>

The sword-wielding warrior charged into Bren, but before he can get near him, a vortex appeared and pulled the unsuspecting warrior into it.

"What?" Cascade asked, wondering why her warrior had vanished. Bren laughed hysterically.

"Dimensional Prison wiped your monster from the game, keeping me safe and sound." Cascade placed her warrior into the banished slot on her disk and ended her turn.

"My draw!" Bren pulled the top card of his deck and smirked.  
>"I activate Dimensional Fissure! Now any monster that gets sent to the graveyard gets removed instead!" Cascade's blood began to boil as her strategy was once again stopped by Bren's banishing tactics.<p>

"Next, I'll activate Different Dimension Reincarnation! By discarding one card, I can special summon one of my removed from play monsters, so I'll discard D.D. Scout Plane (ATK: 800/ DEF: 1200) and special summon Necroface!"

The grotesque doll head with tentacles cracking through it emerged from a portal created by his spell card.  
>"I'll tribute Necroface in order to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000) in attack mode!" The monstrous head was engulfed in a pillar of black flames, and emerging from it was a tall, black-cloaked being, its red eyes piercing through Cascade's panicked form.

"Once again, since Necroface was banished by Dimensional Fissure, we remove our top five cards," Bren repeated what he had said before, and both duelists did as required.

"Caius, since you were just tribute summoned; activate your effect!" The monarch placed its hands in front of its chest and began to charge a ball of dark energy from the red tips of its fingers. Cascade stepped back.

"What is his effect?"

"Caius, banish that wreck!" Bren shouted as the monarch shot the orb at the ship, engulfing it in the dark energy and suddenly vanishing. Cascade's monster was no where to be seen.

"Your lucky that monster wasn't Dark, something worse would've happened. Okay Caius, attack her directly!" The monarch fired another ball of dark energy at Cascade, striking her in the chest for heavy damage.

Bren: 4000/ Cascade: 1600

Cascade clutched her chest and refocused, her sapphire eyes burning with determination to defeat her opponent.

"My turn?" she asked Bren who merely nodded, but once he ended, D.D. Scout Plane appeared on his side of the field. Bren laughed darkly.

"Whenever Scout Plane is banished, it returns during the End Phase!" Cascade nodded.

"Okay then, I draw! I activate Burial from a Different Dimension!" In front of her, a black coffin with gold patterning along it emerged and opened.  
>"With this card, I can select up to three of my banished monsters and return them to the graveyard."<p>

Cascade's Lightray Grepher, Ghost Ship, and Freed the Brave Wanderer had entered the coffin and returned to Cascade's graveyard.

"Now, since I have more than four Light monsters in my graveyard with different names, I can Special Summon Lightray Daedalus (ATK: 2600/ DEF: 1500) in attack mode!"

Emerging from a ray of light was a massive blue and white serpent, easily dwarfing Bren's Caius.

"I activate Luminous Spark!" A beam of light radiated down on the field, engulfing the duelists in a blinding light.  
>"This boosts Light monster's attack by five-hundred, but dropping their defenses by four-hundred (Daedalus - ATK: 3100 DEF: 1100)!" she explained.  
>"But I won't need that, because I activate Daedalus' effect! By targeting one Field Spell and two other cards on the field, they get destroyed!"<p>

Bren stepped back with eyes wide to see the Spark dissipate, along with the destruction of his Scout Plane and Caius.

"Now Daedalus, attack! Flashing Bolt!" Opening its gaping mouth, the serpent charged a ball of yellow energy and released it as a flurry of lightning bolts.

Bren: 1400/ Cascade: 1600

Bren winced in pain and growled in frustration.

"Are you done yet?" he asked viciously.  
>"I'd like to end this already!"<p>

"Go ahead," Cascade allowed to Bren to begin his turn. He drew his next card and flashed a devilish smile. After Bren's Scout Plane was returned, he placed a monster onto his disk.

"This duel is over! I summon Gren Maju De Eiza (ATK: ?/ DEF: ?)!" A red, serpentine demon emerged to face Cascade's Daedalus.

_'No attack or defense?' _she thought to herself.  
><em>'What is he playing at?'<em>

"What's interesting about Gren Maju, is that he gains four hundred attack for every one of my removed cards! Giving him a massive five-thousand two-hundred attack (Gren Maju - ATK: 5200/ DEF: 5200)! So Maju, finish this!"

Cascade grinned and revealed a card in her hand.

"I discard Honest! Allowing Daedalus to gain your monster's attack (Daedalus - ATK: 7800)!" Just as Bren's monster was to strike, Cascade's Daedalus fired a bolt of lightning. The bolt completely engulfed the attacking monster and destroyed it, sending the damage to Bren.

Bren: 0/ Cascade: 1600

* * *

><p>Bren was knocked far back after the resulting shockwave after his monsters destruction. He winced in pain before passing out from exhaustion.<p>

_'You're lucky you managed to maintain some control, or else I would've defeated that girl,' _the spirit uttered before vanishing back into Bren's psyche.

Cascade put her deck away and deactivated her duel disk, she looked over to Bren who was laying flat on the ground. Although she didn't like what he did earlier, she couldn't help but feel concerned for him as he seemed to not be moving. Cascade looked over to Zachary and Riley who were coming up to meet her.

"I think we should take him to the nurse." Zachary and Riley looked at each other with puzzledfaces but picked up Bren's unconscious body and headed for the health wing.

* * *

><p>It was about two hours later Bren woke up in a bed in the nurse's wing of the school. He sat up and looked around the room, rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. His eyes then met the dark blue of Zachary's eyes. When his vision focused, he saw that they had a stern look. Sleeping on a desk next to him was Cascade, Zachary's jacket on her to keep her warm in the nippy health wing.<p>

"Hey, its Zachary right?" Bren asked, completely unaware of what had happened hours before. Zachary nodded to his question.

"What am I doing here?" he asked, causing Zachary's expression to darken.

"Don't play dumb, we could've just left you there. After the way you acted," Zachary spat. Bren flinched, taken surprised by his harsh tone.

"What are you talking about, Zachary? I don't even know how I got here, let alone what happened earlier. To be honest, I can't remember anything since last night," Bren gave a solemn look and put his hand to his head trying to remember any reason as to why Zachary would be angry with him as well as being in the health wing.

"That shockwave must've hit you harder than we thought," Zachary pointed out.

"Shockwave? Zachary, what are you talking about?" Bren asked. Zachary stormed up, clearly angry with the bed-ridden student.

"STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" he shouted, his booming voice causing Cascade to wake up.

"Zach, what's wrong? Cascade asked worriedly.

"He keeps saying that he doesn't remember anything from earlier! You injured Cascade and she beat you in a duel afterwards!" Zachary explained, still fuming with rage. Bren turned to Cascade.  
>"Is that true? What he just said?"<p>

Cascade nodded putting a hand on Zachary's shoulder in attempt to calm him down.

"Zach, I-I swear. I don't remember a thing. I would never do that to anyone, let alone someone I just met a day before," Bren pleaded. Zachary shook his head and sat down on a chair beside Cascade. Cascade looked over at him before looking back to Bren, but when she did, she noticed something she hadn't before.

"Bren? Weren't your eyes like- a bluish color?" she asked looking at his now brown eyes. He shook his head.

"No, they've always been brown. Why do you ask?"

"I just," she shook her head.  
>"I rememeber you had blue eyes when dueled you earlier. They just don't change color, you know?"<p>

Bren's eyes widened, finally remembering what had happened the night before. He growled in frustration, fell back onto the bed with his hands in his face. This caught Zachary's attention while Cascade grew concerned with his sudden fury.

"Goddammit!" he cried.  
>"He did it again!"<p>

Zachary and Cascade shared glances with eachother before looking back towards Bren.

"What are you talking about?" it was Zachary's turn to ask questions now. Bren shook his head and stormed out of the health wing as fast as he can, not giving a chance for Cascade and Zachary to go after him.

After running out of the school and onto the beach he fell to his knees in the soft sand. The sun was setting now and most students were back at their dorms to end the day, giving him a perfect place to release his anger.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. From within him projected the spirit that had been tormenting him.

_''I'm making you as powerful as can be. With my help you can dominate the others, if only you would stop resisting me,' _the spirit hissed, its tentacles flailing in anger.

"NO, I'M NOT LETTING YOU CONTROL MY WILL!" Bren cried while reaching for his deck and dumping it out over the sand. He searched through it before finding the card he wanted. He place both hands on the card and began to pull.

_"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" _the spirit attempted to stop Bren, but it was no avail, as with one swift pull he tore the card in half. The spirit stopped in its tracks and began to convulse. Shortly after, he began to fade away.

_"This isn't over, fool!" _the spirit gave one last sentence before having its precense erased. Bren sighed deeply and fell back anto the warm sand. He threw the card apart and put his arms behind his head.

"That's the last of you, Necroface. No longer will you try to take me over," he spoke to himself. He felt like a massive weight has been lifted off him, and for the first time in years he can remember, he can relax without having to struggle with Necroface's constant control. After laying in the sand for a few more moments, he picked himself up, dusted off, and proceeded back to his dorm in the hope for a good rest. Behind him lay the two pieces of Necroface forever to be buried in the sand.

* * *

><p><strong>That night: 11:59 p.m.<strong>

Most of the students were sleeping, ending their Monday in rest for the following Tuesday. The tides were low and soft on the coast of the island, the horizon blending in with the night sky.

All was peaceful before a shroud of darkness appeared on the shores. Its black veil darker than the night. Emerging from the shroud was a man dressed in a black and white trenchcaot with grey pants and black shoes. His forward spiked hair was split in half of colors black and white. He inhaled the aroma of the sea and smiled, exposing his large and sharp canine teeth. Opening his eyes, one being black and the other white both aligned with the respective color of his hair and coat, he turned towards the school in the distance.

"Soon, the day of reckoning will come upon you," he laughed. Something ushered him to look down, and what he saw were the torn pieces of Necroface. Using his right hand, which was covered in a clawed glove, he lifted both pieces.

"Now why would someone tear something as great as you apart?" he asked while a white light enveloped the card and once it subsided after a few seconds, was completely repaired.

"Let's see what my masters can have in store for you," he smirked. He stuck the newly mint card into his coat pocket and entered another shadowy void, totally vanishing from the grounds.

* * *

><p><strong>There she is, Chapter 9.<br>I think now that the submitted OC's are in, we can get this show on the road! XD  
><strong>

**I hope you all enjoyed that ending there :D. What does this guy have in store for the school. Special thanks to reader Bren Tenkage for submitting the awesome removal specialist: Bren T. Hunter! You'll be sure to be seeing him in the near future ^_^  
><strong>

**Thanks for the reviews and stay tuned for Chapter 10!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I hate to say this and be this kind of person but... I lost my interest in writing this fic and the whole series of Yu-Gi-Oh! all-together. I'm so sorry to disappoint all of you who have enjoyed the story to thus far, but I haven't touched it in months and each time I go back to it, nothing but writer's block.**

**If in anyway I can get over my block and hopefully get back my interest in Yu-Gi-Oh!, this story may possibly make a comeback. Unfortunately for now, I must close up shop on this one for the time being.**

**Again, I deeply apologize for the disappointment of my readers.  
><strong>


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